A man stands on the street corner,
proclaiming despite the murmur,
“come and drink the living water
that the Most Holy Potter
blessedly offers
to sinners
bound for the slaughter!”
His message is one of good news,
of redemption if we so choose
to forsake all else for the Savior’s cause,
but often i fear that we forget to pause,
we fail to stop and consider
that good’s synonym isn’t chipper,
that the message of the cross is a bitter
pill to swallow for wretched sinners
like ourselves. We forget that
to proclaim Christ is to combat
all of the sin in their life.
we are cutting with a knife
the heart’s of those we love dearly
so shouldn’t our words be not merely
thrown to the wind so cavalierly
but rather be spoken clearly, sincerely,
and with great solemnity
because without Christ their very identity
is an enemy,
an enmity
of God’s great sovereignty.

You see, the Father, Most High,
when He spoke to the Israelites
through Moses, His instrument,
pleaded for them to be diligent
in following His Words with care
for if they decided to whore
after other gods and idols made
His wrath would not be stayed
it would not be swayed or delayed,
but it would come in a cascade
of fury and destruction
for such is the penalty for disobeying instruction.

The Son of God said it best
when to the hypocrites He professed
that it was their vision of the Light
that would leave them without respite
on the great Day of the LORD
for He will then recall each ignored
word that they had ever heard
but instead they preferred
to follow their own heart’s leanings
despite God’s own bleeding
on their behalf.

Thus, we must understand
that hearing the command
of the LORD invokes
both despairs and hopes,
blessings and curses
that its not just verses
of empty poetry
meant to be shared openly
instead, this is a oracle
that will become either
a great miracle
or a terrible
and unbearable
weight upon the soul
cause acceptance does console,
but rejecting drills a hole
further blackening the heart into coal
we must always realize
that the Gospel does not equalize
rather it draws closer those who are close
and further hardens those who are hard.

but now the question remains,
should we, then, refrain
from speaking such a difficult truth?
Brothers, we must NOT stop for it has never been smooth,
the Word has never been soothing to men’s ears
it has never been responded to with great cheers
and gladness, but rather with anger,
with broken mourning and sadness.
The human heart is prideful after all
and when the truth begins to maul
away after its very nature
calling out all sinful behavior,
the tendency is not to repent,
not to weep over their sin with great lament,
but to further harden or to retaliate.
To share the Gospel is to create
a moment when men must choose
either to accept or refuse
the message that they received,
and they will almost never be relieved
to have the Truth come into their mind
because most would rather remain blind
than to have the Light sear
through their heart and severe
all that they once thought
and all that they had ever been taught.
But still it remains that the Light
is still better than the night
even if it is too bright
and sends most to flight.
But Truth revealed
is better than Truth concealed
therefore, speak it in love,
not like it is some sort of
requirement that we must
complete each day just
to earn our stay in the Kingdom,
but we speak it with wisdom
knowing that we are
shattering with care
all that they once knew to be true,
showing that all of reality is only through
the risen and glorified Son of God,
before Whom we have awed,
in His name we share, not
flippantly, but as we ought:
with great care and weight
because our task is great.
Our Christ destroys the selfish
allowing them to fully relish
His absolute completeness
to have His joy that is never less
than the highest
good for our rebellious
hearts. Thus, we proclaim
despite how it might maim
the souls of those who hear
but we do it while being aware
of its burden that we bear
so that Christ and His grandeur
might be displayed now and forever.