I remember being a boy of about ten or twelve when my buddies and I were proud of
the fact that we could look at a dead animal on the road and show no signs of being squeamish. The more putrid the dead carcass, the better. Those of us who could even eat a sandwich while we gazed upon the unfortunate animal and smelled the rotting flesh where really tough. We also found it to be quite amusing when the girls would go running by screaming while looking the other way. Oh well, those were the days.
I am no longer a child and now get no pleasure in observing dead, rotting flesh. Now I think about the spiritual death and rotting lives of people. How sad and tragic that so many human beings we rub shoulders with daily are steeped in sin and the tragedies of life. Yes, this is Satan’s world, and he has really made a mess.
The glorious news however, is that Jesus Christ gives life to those who come to Him in repentance. Satan steals, kills and destroys, but only Jesus can replace, heal and make anew.
Sometimes while traveling on our local highways I still see road kill, but now it reminds me of all the dead bodies Satan has left on the highway of life. The stench that wafts up toward Heaven must be beyond anything mortal man can even imagine.
As we walk down the highway of life we see strewn, as far as the eye can see, the fallen bodies of those on the broad road Jesus told us about. Glancing down the narrow road there are none.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 NASB)
Millions of lives have been destroyed by greed, lust, hate, jealousy, envy, power, and so much more.
How can two people (male and female) join themselves in wedlock and then later take the life of the one they said they loved? How can a man (or woman) destroy the innocence of a child by their own perverted lust? How can a man beat and/or rape a woman, when God designed them as the weaker sex and has designed for man to protect her? How can one not be satisfied with their own possessions, but also steal those of another? How could anyone even entertain the thought of taking the life of an unborn child?
When our original parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, sin entered the world by a fallen angel with many names. I usually just call him Satan. Because of that original sin, sin has been passed down from generation to generation. No man, woman or child has ever been exempt, except one. He is the Son of God, Jesus, who was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life, and gave Himself as a sacrifice in our place that we might be saved from sin and given eternal life. Just as He promised, He rose from the grave three days after His cruel death on a cross, and now sits in Heaven waiting to return for His own.
Sin is simply disobedience toward God, and whether it’s eating from a tree He said not to eat, or murdering the innocent, it has caused a great gulf between mankind and his creator, the one and only true God. Jesus Christ bridged that great gulf, making it possible for those who come through Him to be united with God. We can walk with God, but only if we come to Him by His Son Jesus.
To refuse to walk down the narrow road is to refuse Jesus. To refuse Jesus is to remain in Satan’s clutches. To remain in Satan’s clutches is to spend eternity in the same place that God has created for Satan; i.e. hell, and then ultimately the lake of fire.
If we would only open our eyes, we could see the spiritual road kill all around us. We could smell the stench of rotting sin in the lives of the dead. We could see our own future, whether near or far, as road kill on the highway of life if Jesus is not our Savior. Our destiny is our decision.
Our Father in Heaven gets no pleasure in the wasted lives and hell-bound souls of mortal man. To the contrary, His love is so great He gave His own Son as a sacrifice to purchase all who will come to Him through His Son. By His own grace He has done all that is Heavenly possible to provide a way of escape for mankind. So why is road kill still littering the highway of life? The answer is that those who become Satan’s road kill refuse to reach for the life-line, and the life-line, is Jesus.
Grant Phillips
Pre-Rapture Commentary http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
