Speech

This was my speech for this year. I want you to read it, and I want you to act on it if you haven't. I wrote it before stuff happened, then when I finished, stuff happened, and it became very real to me: real in the parts of God being there for us.

Speech: The Extraordinary Taxi Ride

 Life is a taxi ride. In fact: it is an extraordinary taxi ride. It is extraordinary for many reasons: both good and bad. There are times where the road is smooth and easy to travel, and there are times where it is covered in potholes. There are times when your soaring along: head out the window, enjoying everything as it flies past, and there are times when it breaks down or overheats. There are times where the road is wide, and many can travel along with you, and then there are times where it is narrow, and only your closest friends can stay near you or understand what you’re going through. All these things make life and extraordinary, amazing and remarkable taxi ride.

 To begin with, you have no control over the taxi ride. It takes turns without your consent, and you have no control over which path it takes. One day, you will have to choose the destination of your taxi ride, of your life: to take the narrow road, which is found by few, yet leads to heaven, or to go through the wide gate, which many take, and leads to eternal destruction. This decision will affect your whole life: it is the most important decision you will make. No-one else can make this decision for you. You must decide whether to follow God, making him the driver of your taxi, believing in him, trusting him and repenting of your sins, ending up in heaven, or to live your own life, your own way, rejecting the truth, and the free gift of eternal life that he has offered you, and go to hell, with Satan driving you there.

 Whichever road you take, there is a cost. The cost is not for the ride to heaven or hell: the ride to heaven is paid for by God, through Jesus death and resurrection for us, and Satan is all too happy to give you a ride to hell. 1 Peter 5:8 says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The cost is in the way that you travel.  Both roads have good and bad times. The road to heaven, the life of a Christian, is easy and hard at the same time. It is hard because, as a Christian you will have to make sacrifices: you will have to obey God, even if it costs you. You will have to give up some things that you enjoy, because they are not honouring to God, and you will have to fight against Satan. But it is easy, because we know that when we fail, because you and I will fail, we are covered by Jesus, because he has already paid for the sin you have committed I have never heard of one Christian, when they are old and dying saying that they wasted their life serving God: I have only heard of them saying that they wished that they had turned to God and obeyed him earlier. If you take this road, heaven will be your reward: where there is no pain, or suffering, or sadness. No heartbreak, no hurt, no doubt and NO EVIL. The reward is definitely worth the cost.

 The road to hell gives the illusion that you rule your own life. It allows you to believe that you are in control of the taxi, that you can lead it wherever you want it to go. It lets you think that you are able to do whatever you want, but in reality you are in slavery to sin, which doesn’t last. It may be fun for awhile, it may look pleasing to begin with, but it doesn’t last. You can get drunk all you want, but you still have to wake up in the morning with a hangover, and all your troubles worse then when you started. You can go steal stuff, but after using it for a little while it gets old, or it breaks, and you get bored of it. This road leads to eternal destruction and hell: separation from God, from all that is good, pure and right, because God is those things.

Christianity is good for another reason. It offers the knowledge that God is looking after you. That you have an ALL wise, ALL loving, and ALL powerful God as your friend, and the CREATOR of the whole UNIVERSE protecting you. That you have a father, who always watches over you, because he never slumbers, or sleeps, and a friend, on whom you can cast all your anxiety, because he cares for you. He wont let ANYTHING happen to you, except what for your good (you becoming more like him) and for his glory. As a Christian, you can trust God 100% because you know that there is a purpose in everything that happens to you. No Pain or Suffering that you ever go through will be wasted. God is all powerful, and has complete control over everything that happens. He has the power to protect his people and he does so, every single second of every single day. If you don’t choose God, then you are his enemy, and he will punish you eternally for it.

So. Make your choice. Life is a taxi ride, it will come to an end, and you have to decide where it will end. Some taxi rides are shorter then others, some lives end unexpectedly. You only get one chance at life, and you only get a limited number of chances to turn to God and obey him. The more that you ignore God’s warnings to you, the more that you put it off, saying that you can do it later, the less chance that he will ask you again. God is offering you a chance right now. Take it, please take it, because it may be the last one you will ever get.

The time has come The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news

Thoughts?