There Are No Shortcuts!

The story is told about an effective teacher who taught in the Los Angeles-school area. One afternoon, he decided to take his students to a concert performed by a world-class cello player. After the inspiring concert, the world-class cello player invited the teacher and his students backstage to talk. Obviously, the students were immensely intimated by this man of such musical ability and universal renown. Eventually, however, one of the young students piped up and simply asked him, "Sir, how do you make music that sounds so beautiful?"

The world-class cello player responded with great care and concern to this question, reached down, put his arm around the young boy, and replied, "Well, son, there are no shortcuts."

I am not an extremely old person, but one thing that I have observed thus far on my short pilgrimage through life is that nothing in life comes easy. In other words, there are no shortcuts. Similarly, in the Christian experience, there are no shortcuts.

There is no shortcut to redemption. Jesus Christ declared it so plainly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father" (John 14:6). The Bible is abundantly clear that there is only one way to be saved: Through faith by grace in the atoning work of Calvary accomplished by the eternal Son of God.

There is also no shortcut to revival. The authors of the Scriptures agree that if the church genuinely desires a resuscitation of its members, Christians must humble themselves by getting on their knees, repenting of their sinful ways, and bombarding the throne of grace.


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