YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE

On a warm, beautiful summer day, I was at the beach with family. Unexpectedly. It started to thunder, and then there was lightning. What? My granddaughter checked the weather forecast, and sure enough, it was supposed to rain in forty minutes. So soon after that, we packed up and left, and just before we got back to the house, it started to drizzle. I jokingly said to my son-in-law, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Meaning, I was willing to leave the beach, because I believed God had given us ample time to leave so we would not get caught in the storm.

Then I thought to myself, “God has given mankind ample time to respond to His love and to repent. Sadly, many have ignored Him, making all kinds of excuses. Sooner or later though, they’ll get caught in the consequences of their procrastination and rejection of God’s love demonstrated through the death of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and then it’ll be too late for them.”

We (my family and I) would have gotten caught in the rain had we not left when we did. The Bible clearly says, “Today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart;” “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Hebrews 3:7; Acts 16:31).  What are you waiting for? Understand that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV). How many reminders do you need?

God’s Word doesn’t change! You’ve probably heard this invitation before; if so, this is a reminder. Please respond today; tomorrow could be too late. Simply repent of your sins, and ask God to forgive you through the shed blood of Jesus (see Hebrews 9:28).  That’s all it takes to become a child of God. And just as children have to follow their parents' directions, you have to follow God’s directions, as stated in the Bible, when you become His child.

In the Bible, you’ll discover all He wants for your life, and trust me, His plans for you are for your welfare (see Jeremiah 11:29). You’ll discover His plans for you through reading and studying the Bible and obeying it as well as fellow-shipping with Him through praying—alone and with other believers, which of course means routine, ongoing involvement with a local church. You need that to grow in your faith.

May God bless you as you take this step; “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV). This could be your last chance!

CHRISTIAN LIVING

The Christian life is a transformed life; we have been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. We cannot live this life without help—without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit who lives inside us.

Christians are adopted children of God. Prior to adoption, we were controlled by the devil.  Each one of us had an earthly nature of sin, evidenced by sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from the lips (see Colossians 3:6,8). Through the finished work of Christ, God rescued us from the devil’s camp. This made us children of the Most High God. He put His Spirit into us to bear witness with our spirit that we really are His children and to teach us how to live godly lives.

As Christians, we are called to walk as Jesus walked. That means we turn our backs on sin, give up our former ways of living, and focus on God’s ways. The Bible says that our lives are hid with Christ (see Colossians 3:3) just as we might hide treasures from thieves. It is obvious that, if our lives are hid with Christ, we’ll treasure His ways more than worldly ways.

There are Christians who think believing in Jesus is all they need to do. They think that after they profess their faith, they are free to live any way that pleases them. In truth, believing in Jesus is only the beginning of the journey. Until we see Jesus face to face, we must continually seek to become more and more like Him. The apostle Paul expresses it this way, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 NIV), and John says it this way, “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin” (1 John 5:18 NIV). We need to make a conscious effort to hate sin and to have nothing to do with it.

It is clear from the Scriptures that God’s wrath is coming against those who live in sin (see Colossians 3:6). Let us, therefore, keep ourselves clean. Our salvation cost Him a price we cannot imagine. The least we can do is live to please and honor Him, so let’s obey the Scriptures, working out our salvation with genuine fear and trembling!