(P)The...
Illustration
(P)
The multibillion-dollar Gulf Oil Company lost a two and one-half million dollar oil well in New Mexico when the company forgot to send the United States government a $400 rent check. Gulf Oil has had the land for ten years on a government oil and gas lease, and has made regular payments during that time. But in January of 1981 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management did not send out a formal reminder that the monthly payment was due. As a result, the computer that makes Gulf's rental payments did not send a check. This, in turn, meant that the lease was forfeited and the oil well was lost to the company. The government has been petitioned to give the well back.
Mistakes can be costly. One of the costliest mistakes of all is to believe that by our own efforts we can establish ourselves in a right relationship with God and can escape his judgment. God's reminder is strong and clear in the Bible, so we have no excuse: "He (Christ) has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself." There is no other way. Through faith in Christ we are saved. Without him, we are lost.
-- Clausen
The multibillion-dollar Gulf Oil Company lost a two and one-half million dollar oil well in New Mexico when the company forgot to send the United States government a $400 rent check. Gulf Oil has had the land for ten years on a government oil and gas lease, and has made regular payments during that time. But in January of 1981 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management did not send out a formal reminder that the monthly payment was due. As a result, the computer that makes Gulf's rental payments did not send a check. This, in turn, meant that the lease was forfeited and the oil well was lost to the company. The government has been petitioned to give the well back.
Mistakes can be costly. One of the costliest mistakes of all is to believe that by our own efforts we can establish ourselves in a right relationship with God and can escape his judgment. God's reminder is strong and clear in the Bible, so we have no excuse: "He (Christ) has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself." There is no other way. Through faith in Christ we are saved. Without him, we are lost.
-- Clausen
