Monday, January 2, 2006
It was before Christmas, and I went shopping for toys for my kids. Now you might not think there's anything unusual about that - unless you happen to know that all my kids are all grown up now. But that doesn't mean they can't have one little spark of childhood left in them. For example, I always buy my daughter a doll for Christmas; always have, always will. And we've got one son who was always a big fan of a certain Sesame Street character, and he still has a collection of everything Ernie. But recently a certain Ernie toy was one of the hottest Christmas items on the market. I wanted one for my son, the Ernie enthusiast, that is. I discovered the toy in September actually in a store - before it became an officially hot item. I held it in my hand - I could have bought it. But I said, "Naw, I can always get it later." Wrong. When "later" came, there were none to be found.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When 'Later' Never Comes."
When it's a toy you miss because you waited - no big deal. When it's God you miss, when it's eternity in heaven you miss, that's huge.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 6:2. God says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." God says there's a time of His favor; a day of His salvation. And that's when you have to grab Him. Then He clearly spells out the time to respond to Him. God's Word says, "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."
When God talks about salvation, He's talking about rescuing us from the death sentence that we are all headed for because of our sin, which is the self-rule of our life. A life that was created to be run by our Creator. This "salvation" came at a very high price for God. Someone had to die as your substitute, paying for your sin.
The only someone who was qualified to pay that awful price was God's one and only Son. That is Jesus Christ. So, believe me, it really matters to God what you do with His Son. The only response that can change a person's eternal address from hell to heaven is putting your total trust in Jesus as your only hope of belonging to God; of being with God forever.
But so many of us are like I was the day I held the purchase I wanted in my hand. We decide to put off - make it ours later. I chose to get it later, but later was too late. It was no longer available to me. That's the awful risk you take when you put off Jesus one more day.
Maybe you've been around the message of Jesus a lot. Maybe most folks think you belong to Him. But deep in your heart, you know there's never been a time when you've really committed yourself to Him. It could be you've said, "I will give myself to Jesus - when I'm ready."
You need to hear the words of Jesus recorded in John 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father ... draws him." You don't come to Jesus when you're ready. You come when God's ready. It's God who makes you ready to trust Jesus. If you feel that tug in your heart right now, this is the only time you can be sure God is readying you to come. There are no guarantees of one more opportunity. That's why the Bible says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near" ( Isaiah 55:6). He may not always be findable. He may not ever be this close again.
If you have never said "yes" to Jesus, turning from your sin, pinning all your hopes on Him, please would you do it now? If you want to begin this relationship with Him, then I would encourage you to go to our website where you can either listen to or you can read what I have there about how to begin your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's simply yoursforlife.net. Or if you'd like for me to send you a printed version of my little booklet Yours For Life that covers that same information, you can call toll free at 1-877-741-1200.
Saying "later" to God's Son is eternally dangerous, because God says the day of salvation is now. It's almost yours now. But later - later may be forever too late.