WE CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER

The time is now. We can't wait any longer. We must begin at this very moment. We must seek the Lord while He may be found.

Isaiah 55:6 (ESV)  “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

We need to decide today to wholeheartedly seek after God, not waiting until New Year's Day to make resolutions that we don't keep. Now. If there is anything in our lives that is not pleasing to God, let us repent (reject that sin and turn around to God) which is shown in verse 7 "let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD,". 

We must ask God to forgive us. We must seek His compassion and His pardon (forgiveness). If we don't, we will still be in our sins and our prayers will not be heard. Psalm 66:18 (ESV)  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. "Cherished" means "loved" and "iniquity" means "sin". So that verse is saying if we love our sin, then God would not listen to us. Why? Because we chose that sin over God.

BUT we must realize what our sins will cost us. Judgment. Punishment. Eternity in hell. Every time we sin, we EARN something. Romans 6:23 (ESV)  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. "Wages" are what you earn or deserve for your work. Your sin and my sin have earned us death BUT God has given us an opportunity to have eternal life instead. Not by being "good" or being "nice". Not by some rituals or routines. God will give us eternal life if, and only if, we have received it through Jesus Christ.

This opportunity is a "free gift". You and I don't deserve it. We can't earn it. We can't achieve it on our own. We must ask God to give us that eternal life through Jesus.Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  We can only receive this eternal life by putting our faith in Jesus.

How do we put our faith in Jesus? Great question. It is not easy and it is not a quick-fix to our problems. Putting our faith in Jesus requires our total commitment and our lifetimes to develop. 

First, we must recognize that we are sinners and apart from God's gift, we are headed for hell. Not because He doesn't love us but because we REJECTED Him. 

Second, we must ask God to forgive us of all our sins and to rescue us from the penalty of our sins by giving us eternal life through Jesus Christ. 

And third, we must commit our lives to Jesus and live our lives in accordance with His Word, the Bible.

Again, it's not easy and that is why we are blessed with other believers to help us and teach us and warn us when we are off track. We find these other believers in our churches. When we gather together, we are to seek God as we saw earlier in Isaiah 55. We are to focus on God and not ourselves. We are to ask Him to teach us, guide us and make us more like Jesus everyday. 

Have you put your faith in Jesus yet? If not, we would like to help you. You can reach us at brucenichols@rollingforkbaptistchurch.com  Please don't begin this new year without God.