16,06,68,88,___, 98- what's the answer? Unless you look at this in a different way, you probably will not get the answer. Life is like that too; because, unless you change your thinking, you will be doomed to be exactly what the godless world teaches you to be - an unregenerated sinner. And no one really even wants to hear THAT!!! Case in point...
Acts, Chapter 17 (WEB)
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women. 5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people. 6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”
Sinners do not like to be told their fate. They want to believe that they and they alone are the master of their fate, in this world and the next!! To hear that there is another king (besides one of their own choosing) is blasphemy to them. And they get angry (and perhaps violent). The truth hurts, and the Thessalonians were "hurt" to realize that many people were beginning to believe in Jesus as the one true king. The basic nature of man has not changed in 2000 years. If anyone "dares" to declare Jesus as KING, the godless hoard reacts in an unpleasant way. In the U.S.A. most of the response by unbelievers has been legal, but that will eventually escalate into violent persecution- it is just a matter of time. For those of us who understand that Jesus really is KING, we must remain faithful, regardless of what the "Mob" does. Get it?
ps. If you turn the picture upside down, you will quickly see that the answer is 87.