Tomorrow may be too late - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) August 1, 2023

It can be hard for some to believe that God could ever be inaccessible. In this day and age, many of us think God is like a streaming channel - turn it on when you want and ignore it when you don't. This attitude leads to so many believing they should 'enjoy life' or make money first, putting the need to enter into a relationship with God on the backburner. "Oh, I'm young and I've got my life to live. I'll give my life to the Lord later," they say.

However, what many fail to realize is that tomorrow may be too late.

That is not the message anyone wants to hear. We always imagine there will be plenty of time to turn to the Lord. However, consider Isaiah 55:6-7 - Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

This scripture makes it painfully clear that there is a time when God can be found. This being the case, the opposite is equally true - there is a time when God cannot be found. We must ask ourselves which of these options do we prefer? Wonder how the latter option could happen? Imagine a guy, living the life. He's got money, women, cars, homes and takes great trips. He's the dude every guy wants to be and the man every woman wants. His mom keeps telling him to make time for God but He promises her he'll do so when he gets married and has kids. Over the years people try to talk to him about Christ but he brushes them aside. He eventually gets tired of his mom's 'nagging' about God and calls her less frequently. His life of partying intensifies and he's soon doing things he never would have before, all because he can and nobody tells him not to.

One day, he falls sick and dies. At no point did he get to return to the subject of getting to know God or His son, Jesus Christ. His death was sudden, so there was no death-bed opportunity for someone to pray with Him and have Him give His life to Christ. Where do you think a man like that ends up? Heaven? Hell? According to the words of Jesus in John 14:6, this man will not make it to heaven because He never took that preliminary step of accepting Jesus as His Lord and Savior.

God does not want anyone to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). And this is why the Lord wants everyone to turn to Him and leave behind the things that don't please Him, because these things negatively impact a relationship with Him. Jesus said in Revelation 16:15 - “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame.” (AMP). The Lord wants all to be spiritually ready for His return because He has promised to come back and those who remained ready will go to heaven, while those who didn't will suffer an unpleasant fate in hell. Nobody knows when the time of His return will be, but is it worth it to leave things to chance and remain unprepared? If my experience is anything to go by, then making intentional choices to have a relationship with God is not easy. Many might not want to hear that either. Yet, I've seen God do things for me whereby I'm thoroughly convinced that the sacrifices were worth it. Plus, God is responsible for me and according to 1 Corinthians 1:8 - He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You may be wondering, how can you seek the Lord? How does one prepare for when Jesus will return? The first thing to do is to genuinely tell Him you want to know Him and have Him in your life. The next step varies from person to person but can look like any of the following: for many, finding a church where the Holy Spirit dwells acts as a great incubator for their relationship with God. Others open the Bible and develop their relationship through regular interaction with the word of God. Some are led to someone who talks to them about Jesus and helps them become familiar with who He is and what He offers. There are so many ways that God stretches His hand toward people so that a true relationship begins and is firmly established.

The point is, He wants a relationship with you and you should take the offer before it's too late. None of us know when that time will come but I pray in the name of Jesus that each of us will accept His outstretched hand and enter into friendship with the Lord, IJMN, Amen.