According to Scripture, we have an enemy who
wants us to become so upset at, or apathetic towards, our Maker that we don't take the time
to get to know the One who LOVES us more than anyone. In other
words, we are are own greatest enemy. For
it is we who very often WANT to Play God with our own lives (that He
has given to us). And so we become so preoccupied with Ourselves and our
own Pleasure, and FUN, and Entertainment, that we
don't take the time to Get to Know our Creator in a Personal way
-- and perhaps even die in our sins, having never repented of our selfishness, and having never come to know
the true and living God at all. Luke
13:1-5; John
8:24; 6:37.
Yes folks, our worst enemy
is often Ourselves. For we are the ones, who, more than anyone,
decide what we do with our spare time, and who we select to be our
close friends -- who, in turn, influence what we do with our spare
time... and, in turn, both directly and indirectly influences the
direction we choose to follow.
Therefore, in the final analysis, it is WE
Ourselves, who, more than anyone CONTROL THE DESTINY OF OUR LIVES --
which is also why our Creator will be judging us individually, and weighing everything we have ever said or done,
or refused to do, either because of fear, or selfishness, or anger at
people of circumstances, or at God, Himself, or simply because we don't want
to give God the reigns of our lives (Luke 19:27). In other
words, because of our Pride, or Selfishness, or Stubbornness, and/or our desire to "Get
More" (Money, Power, and/or Pleasure, or whatever it is that we
WANT more than we want to Obey, and Know, and be Known by, God) we
play games with our own eternity -- Matt.
7:21-27 -- for this life will be over in a few more heartbeats:
and then we will (all) face God. Will you be ready?
And so a great many people simply Ignore Him, and anyone and
everyone He sends their way: perhaps till the day they die. But then
they won't be able to Ignore Him anymore. For then they will NEED
Him and His Power to save them More than they ever imagined. But then it will BE TOO LATE. For
God will NOT compromise His
Integrity, nor His standards, in order to Give His Greatest Gift to someone who doesn't Love Him,
or who (in this life) refused His repeated
"knocking" (at the door of their hearts - Rev.
3:20), and
who would not even try to Repent of
their selfish ways and to seek to know God and His ways, or even to
ask Him for help. Rom.
10:13.
And if you are reading this, and thinking
to yourself: "I'll let God into my life TOMORROW, or NEXT YEAR,
or perhaps when I'm on my death bed, when I'm 90 years old,
and THEN I'll let Him in. Why wait? Why risk your eternal soul for temporary pleasures?
Why not allow the One who Loves you more
than anyone into your life: The One who is able to give you the Gift of Immortality right now
(in this life, John 5:24). For
that is worth a LOT MORE than all the fortunes of Bill Gates, and
indeed More than the whole world.
For not even Bill Gates can purchase Eternal Life
for Himself or his Wife, or any of this Children.
But God, who
Loves us more than we will ever Know, Gives it away -- not to just anybody, but to those who are willing to agree with the
truth (that we are sinners in NEED of salvation), and to acknowledge
(both privately and publicly) who He is, and Honor Him as God, and call upon His Son,
Jesus Christ, for forgiveness (John 5:22-23; Rom. 1:18-32, 10:13; I
Cor. 1:18-25). And He, for His part, WILL INDEED
COME INTO OUR LIVES just as He has promised and save us from ourselves and from the
penalty of our own rebelliousness.
Otherwise we will be on our own, on the day of
Judgment, and instead of being our Advocate and Helper and Savior,
Jesus will have no other option, but to be our Judge: who will be
forced to judge us according to our own works. And if
that is the case, then, according to the Scriptures, we will fall
short (Rom.
3:20-23; 10:4) -- meaning that God will not
save us, simply because we refused, during our life on Earth, to
repent and humble ourselves before Him like a child (Matt.
18:3).
For that is exactly what I, myself, HAD to do
(years ago) in order to maintain a Clear Conscience with my
Maker. And I am also VERY GLAD I did, and that I have, little by
little, allowed Him to have control over my life.
For when God is in Control, we can "relax and sit back, and enjoy
the Ride." I also say that figuratively. Because,
God's "relaxing" Plan for us may be to become Missionaries
in Timbucktoo, or to go to Law School and become a Lawyer (perhaps for
the American Center for Law and Justice), or for us to donate our time
and efforts at a Homeless Shelter. Or to take our elderly
parents into our own Home and do our best to care for them.
Or to do the same with a Homeless person who really does WANT help,
and who wants to change their predicament and become responsible and
productive members of society. (See Isaiah 58 for more on this).
However, we also NEED to realize that we
are doing such selfless Deeds, Not to "Earn" our own
Salvation: that is given as a Gift (Eph.
1:13-14, 2:8-9) --
but because we already have it, and because we simply WANT to please
and obey God by doing His will for our lives (John
3:36; II Cor. 5:9; Col. 3:1-15).
It is also, in my opinion, much more
enjoyable, and emotionally and spiritually rewarding (and Peaceful) to
Find and Obey and Follow God in this life, than to try to live it on
your own. In fact, according to Jesus, we can't do anything of
lasting value without His aid (John 15:4-5).
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