Before It's Too Late
Isaiah 55:6 NIV
"Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near."
Does God move? Does He leave us? Does He go far away? I'm reminded of that wonderful story, called "Footprints," where the man who had gone to heaven was talking to the Lord and looking at the footprints of his life in the sand. He asked the Lord why, during the worst times of his life, there was only one set of footprints. Why had the Lord deserted him during those most critical times? The Lord told him that the reason there was only one set of footprints during those trying times was that it was then that the Lord was carrying him.
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So many times, we shy away from doing what God wants us to do, using the excuse that living the kind of life God requires just has too many rules and regulations. After all, didn't God fill up several books of the Old Testament with all the rules we have to live by? Doesn't the Law of Moses contain over 600 different laws, all of which we're supposed to follow? The answer to that question is a resounding "NO!" And the reason for that resounding "no" is twofold.
First, every bit of the Law was nailed to that bloody cross at Calvary, having been completed and fulfilled in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:14-16 (NIV) says, "...having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."
The "written code" was the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) - the only part of the law that was written by the finger of God himself - representing the whole law. The New King James version renders this phrase as "having wiped out the handwriting." This handwriting opposed us in that it only amplified every man's guilt and unworthiness before God. Jesus wiped out this handwriting by His triumph at Calvary. He rendered it null and void. The Greek term used by Paul in verse 14 is "exaleipho" - "to totally wipe and wash away" or "to wipe off, wipe away, to obliterate." God used such a strong word to emphasize in unmistakable language the fact of the law's obliteration for the Christian. Since Christians have been freed forever from the whole law (all 613 of them), we must resist any temptation to become legalistic and thereby become ensnared into new bondage to legalistic requirements.
Second, there are only TWO commandments with which we need to concern ourselves, and these are the two commandments Jesus gave to us as revealed in Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV) when he said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." If we follow those two commandments, we will be living lives that are pleasing to God.
God doesn't move away from you and me. We do the moving. We are the ones who head down the wrong track, removing ourselves from God's protective hand. We are the ones who ignore God's warnings and dive headlong into destruction. We are the ones who hold God at arm's length (or farther!), certain that we know better how to handle our lives than He does.
Then we get in trouble. Life blows up in our faces. Everything around us is falling apart. So we turn to God, begging His assistance, entreating Him to help us get out of the mess we've gotten ourselves into. But we're still unwilling to fulfill our part of the bargain. Instead, we are spoiled brats, throwing our temper-tantrums and pulling every ploy that we can to get God to do what we want Him to without doing what He's told us to do. We want our cake without having to participate in the baking! So our troubles remain, and get worse.
If this is a description of your life, drop the brat act. Do what God says you must do in your life. Follow His precepts and His TWO commandments. Make Him your first and only priority. And do it today, while you still have the chance. Tomorrow, you may be run over by a bus. You may have a heart attack. You may just stop breathing. A hard thing to think about, but it's true. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near" ... and while you're still on earth to do it. Think about that abundant life Jesus promised us if we will follow Him and obey His commandments, and realize how very much you're missing. Oh, if you're already a believer, you'll still go to heaven if one of those things happens, but think how great your life could be in the here and now if you'd only do what He wants you to do now. Don't let your tomorrow be too late.
Used with Permission
