Fix It Before the Final

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Comedian Jerry Lewis actually made a little cinema history years ago when he filmed his movie, "The Bellboy." It would be no big deal today, but back then it was a first. Jerry Lewis had each scene of the movie videotaped - so he could look at it and see if it had come out as he wanted it. If he didn't like it, they went right back and got it right. It's a smart idea.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fix It Before the Final."

It's definitely a good idea to stand back, see what's wrong, and then fix it before it goes to the final print. Especially if the audience for the final print is God Himself; as He looks at how you've been living and passes judgment on it. In a sense, He has given us some ways to look at how we're doing, to see what you're doing wrong - and to fix it before it goes to the final print.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes in the context of some early believers who were trivializing sacred things and were, according to the Bible, "weak and sick" as a result. Some had even died as a result. Then, in 1 Corinthians 11:31, Paul says, "But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment." Take care of it yourself - so God doesn't have to take care of it! God's response to the sin we've neglected may come in discipline that He administers to us ... or at the Judgment Seat of Christ where eternal rewards will either be given or withheld based on how we have lived. But in either case, it is far better for you to deal with it now than for God to deal with it then.

You may be living in that window right now - where God is saying, "I'm giving you time to deal with this yourself. But if you don't, I will." It may be the lies the you're telling, the people you're hurting, the compromises you're making, the sin you're playing with. Maybe God is trying to get you to do something about your pride, your hypocrisy, your anger, that secret sin.

And He has given you "videos" that show what you're really doing. God will speak to you through His words in the Bible, sometimes making them feel like an arrow right to the heart of your sin. Or God may be trying to speak to you through some of the people in your life. It may be people who love you. It may be people who are just critical of you. But God put them there to be mirrors for you, showing you what needs to be changed. Now maybe you're stoning the messenger, but that doesn't change the truth of what they see in you, and what God is trying to get you to see.

It isn't smart to flirt with the discipline or the judgment of Almighty God. He just loves you too much to let you keep doing what will damage your life, and probably other lives. And maybe right now He's giving you time to deal with it yourself; to confess it to the One who died for that sin. He's giving you time to repent and turn your back on it, to restore what you need to restore, to take whatever steps you need to take to get it out of your life.

Believe me, no matter how hard it may be for you to judge that sin yourself, it is always easier than forcing God to judge it because you wouldn't. He's giving you a chance to fix it now - before it goes to final print.