[Note: This message was delivered at the halftime of the Upwards programs here in Ashland today.]
Some of you may remember the old game show Let’s Make a Deal. The game was always fun because you had three doors from which to choose, and behind one of those doors there was the grand prize. But if you picked the wrong door, you would end up with a goose egg—maybe a set of steak knives or a bag of rubber bands.
You know what is interesting about that show? There is a parallel to that game in life. You might say that salvation is the grand prize. Each of us is looking for the door that leads to eternal life. The complicated part though, is that there are so many different doors from which to choose. But when life is over, you don’t want to be stuck with a goose egg. So you want to choose the right one.
The good news is that the Bible makes this game (if you want to call it that) simple. In the book of Isaiah, God says, “Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”
Imagine going on that game show and having the three doors presented to you. But on one of the doors it had a placard that said in bold print, “This is it! Choose me! All the other options are false and are not going to get you anything.”
That is in essence what the Lord says to each of you who are here this morning. He puts up a billboard and says, “Look to me and be saved.”
Now, you will all most likely recognize that this is a command. You all know what a command is, I’m sure. You give them to your children all the time. Get to bed. Get a shower. Brush your teeth. Don’t put your finger up your nose!
When God says, “Look to me and be saved.” That’s a command. But if you think about those words you will realize that he is not just a command. It is a supplication. God is here pleading with you. God begs you to come to him so that he can save you and give you eternal life.
Let me illustrate what I mean. Imagine yourself white water rafting down a raging river. The water is so turbulent that it seems like the river is using your raft as a boxing bag. Finally, the knockout punch is delivered and you go hurling out of the raft and into the water. Down the stream you go. When you surface you gasp for air, but it is useless. You are pulled under and the only thing you inhale is liquid.
Even though you are beginning to panic, when you surface again you notice that someone is yelling at you. They are screaming at the top of their lungs, “GRAB THAT BRANCH! GRAB THAT BRANCH!” And they scream that because they know that that branch is your only hope of life.
I think you now understand what a pleading command looks like. You entreat someone to do something with such an adamant intensity because you know that it is for their own good.
Let me say it again, “Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other.” In those words God implores you to turn to him because he knows that there is no other option for you. The God of all the universe becomes a beggar who earnestly pleads with you to do the one thing that is most needful for your eternal welfare.
Throughout this Upwards season, you’ve most likely heard a lot about God. You may have thought, “God does not want anything to do with me.” But that is not true. This verse proves it. He speaks directly to you in his passage. And through me he declares his entreaty to you now.
The truth is that we are all sinners, and we all have no hope of everlasting joy except through Jesus Christ. Yet He now calls to you and says, “Look to me. Do not look anywhere else. Turn away from all others and look to me for salvation! I am the door that you must choose!”
I encourage you to do that very thing. Look to Jesus. Christ is the Savior of sinners and the only one in whom there is eternal life.
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