I just finished the old classic Pilgrim's Progress. If you can get past the Old English style of writing, it is quite an interesting interpretation of the life of a Christian. It is written from a Puritan perspective with the tradition of being very strict. Bunyan's theology is quite sound from a Biblical perspective and is a great story generic enough to stand the test of time, with its focus on principles and truths that are as true now as they were at the beginning of time.
It was a good reminder for me that the path to follow Christ is narrow and how easy it is for many not to take that path or try and find their way off that path along the journey. For many that declare themselves Christians will not be admitted into the "Celestial City" because they did not put all their trust in Christ Jesus for their salvation. Even if they did good works, talked well, had lots of friends, or knew of God, they would still get into Heaven only by believing in the cleansing blood of Christ for their sins. The visual picture of this in the book is when the two main characters have to cross a river right before entering the Gates. The river was not very wide but it could be very deep. There was no way across except to walk. When they walked across the river, if they had complete faith that they could not do it alone but only through the support of Jesus Christ, the river was shallow and simple to wade through. However, for anyone that did not have 100% faith that Christ was sufficient for them, the bottom of the river was endless, they were washed away and gone forever.
There are countless lessons throughout the book, like the one above, when reflected upon my own life, I can be more conscious of the pitfalls that I do encounter on the path of following Christ. Even though this is a hard book to get into right away it is worth the read for the timeless principles and would make a great book to discuss for church groups. -Paul
It was a good reminder for me that the path to follow Christ is narrow and how easy it is for many not to take that path or try and find their way off that path along the journey. For many that declare themselves Christians will not be admitted into the "Celestial City" because they did not put all their trust in Christ Jesus for their salvation. Even if they did good works, talked well, had lots of friends, or knew of God, they would still get into Heaven only by believing in the cleansing blood of Christ for their sins. The visual picture of this in the book is when the two main characters have to cross a river right before entering the Gates. The river was not very wide but it could be very deep. There was no way across except to walk. When they walked across the river, if they had complete faith that they could not do it alone but only through the support of Jesus Christ, the river was shallow and simple to wade through. However, for anyone that did not have 100% faith that Christ was sufficient for them, the bottom of the river was endless, they were washed away and gone forever.
There are countless lessons throughout the book, like the one above, when reflected upon my own life, I can be more conscious of the pitfalls that I do encounter on the path of following Christ. Even though this is a hard book to get into right away it is worth the read for the timeless principles and would make a great book to discuss for church groups. -Paul
RSS Feed