I saw a sign outside a church, as I was driving home this morning from our men's fellowship. "When we uncover our sins God covers them."

It is true that when a sinner comes to God, confessing his or her sins, God forgives the sins.

A sign on another local church says, "Come inside and you will get a free trip to Heaven."

There is more to salvation than this. If we are to be saved we must obey Jesus Christ. Isn't this so? The Lord told us if we are to be His disciple we must turn away from the world, take up our cross of self-denial, and follow Him every day. Is this a free trip to Heaven or is this a costly trip to salvation?

Does God just cover our sins, or does He require that through the Spirit we begin to live a holy life? If this is the case, then we are giving people a wrong impression when we offer them a free trip to Heaven.

Can you be saved and not be a disciple? In the Book of Acts, the disciples were called Christians (little christs). Did they have to risk their lives to be Christians? Did they have to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus every day?

If this was true of the original Christians, how can we say today that a person doesn't have to do anything but just accept the free trip to Heaven?

Are we really preaching the Christian Gospel, or just something we made up to persuade people to join our religion?

So I don't think we are far off the mark when we claim the Lord was not just speaking about some lesser group who are called to the wedding banquet (who would they be in any case if not Christians?) He is telling us that carelessness is sufficient to bar us from the Kingdom of God.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:13)

Who is the Lord telling to keep watch, if it is not His disciples, the Christian people?

Is He telling us that it is not enough to just at one point in time make a profession of faith? Is Christ warning us that we have to always be filled with the Holy Spirit; and if we are not, we stand in danger of being barred from the wedding banquet?

I think our nation is filled with careless believers in Christ. We need to wake up before it is too late. It may be true that the midnight call is being heard already!

The following parable, the parable of the talents, also concerns the sin of negligence, of carelessness, of lack of diligence. Apparently this is a major issue in the Kingdom of God. Perhaps it is associated with the lukewarmness concerning which the Lord rebuked the church in Laodicea.

To be continued.