The Great Chasm

 "And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us" (Luke 16:26).

The above scripture is taken from the familiar parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus given by Jesus. There is a chasm between truth and error that may not at first be so easily seen. One of earth's great chasms is the Grand Canyon. When you are afar from the canyon you cannot notice the great canyon, its depth, or even at first know that it is there. When looking towards the area of the canyon from a distance all you can see is the topography on the other side of the great divide. It looks the same for the most part as where you are presently. There are mountains, trees, all similar as where you are now standing. Walking towards the area of the Grand Canyon the first thing you can notice is that there is a rift in the earth's crust, the lip forming the other side of the canyon. Getting closer the depth becomes more apparent and the divide becomes wider and when at the edge you now can see that there is a great chasm, a great divide. Dividing and making apparent that the truth that seemed so real, that all was the same and if you walk forward you could reach the other side. Reality sets in, there is this chasm that divides the topography.

False teaching, ideologies, religious ideals and practices, philosophies, often have the same appearance as True Christianity. From a distance they look much the same, smell familiar, seem to teach Biblical truths and their conclusion that truth can be found in these forms of religious and world cultures. If all that we do is stand back and admire the topography, we will miss out on the great fact. There is a chasm that separates us and if we do not know it is there we might just walk blindly forward looking at the topography and fall into the chasm of heresy, cultic beliefs and practices.

I question myself: Do I look like, and have the same "topography" as the world around me? Do those who look upon me see any difference in my life from theirs? Is there an apparent chasm that separates me from them? Is the chasm, one of false teaching or a chasm of absolute truth that Jesus is savior and God. He is the chasm that should separate me from the culture of this world. Jesus is also the bridge that between the two rims of the deep divide. We who hold the truth found in the love of Jesus and in His Word can and should be pointing to that bridge. The parable above states a sad truth, "So that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us" (vs. 26b). There will come a time when those who have not found this bridge, Jesus, will find that the bridge is no longer available to them forever. The deep question for us is have we crossed that bridge from error to Truth? Are we willing to show others to the bridge?

Daily Prayer:

Thank you Jesus for being the bridge that I crossed when you called out to me, "come home, you who are weary, come home." Use me to bring this message of hope to my family, friends, my world. May my life demonstrate you and show the difference, the chasm, from this worldly culture full of sin and strife. May they see You and want to cross the bridge, Jesus, from error to truth where they and we will never be separated from You our God forever.                                            Amen