To Encourage You

Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

One of the everlasting tragedies of those who are lost in the end is that they could have had eternal life as an absolutely free gift.  They could have simply asked for “the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) and He would have given it to them, but for one reason or another, they would not.  Just yesterday I was talking to someone who was sharing what it was like when he first came to know Christ. He said it was so wonderful that he couldn’t understand why people didn’t go to church every day. He said he couldn’t stop talking about it. He couldn’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t want to hear the message of the gospel. But then he quickly found out that most people didn’t like this. It actually made them angry when he talked to them about the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him.  So, how on earth can this be?  Why would anyone spurn the greatest gift, the most wonderful thing the world has ever known, when it is free? 

The answer is that they love something else more.  Of course, that other thing is temporary in nature.  It will be taken away in the end.  It will never really satisfy them. The promise of what it can give them is a lie.   Perhaps this is a testimony of the absolute truth of God’s Word when it says such things as “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). 

There is no more deceptive thing in all the universe than to be tricked into thinking that money, fame, sinful pleasures, friendships, even family – all of which will be lost forever in the end by the unbeliever – are more valuable and worth staking our entire lives on than eternal riches, eternal glory, eternal pleasures, eternal friendships, and inclusion in the family of God, forever.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  No one need relinquish the blessings of God for ephemeral and relatively worthless things.  No one is being forced to hold on to the worthless in exchange for things of inestimable eternal value.  It’s all a choice.  It’s a choice being made day by day, moment by moment, as one neglects what is being offered to them just one more time.  For some, the offer will end today.  There are no guarantees about tomorrow.  Indeed “now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). 

So, what are you waiting for?  Is whatever you’re holding onto really worth it to you?  Do you think that all that God has said is a big lie?  Do you think that Jesus, Who was willing to die on a cross for you that you might share in His glory forever, was mistaken?  Do you think His promises are empty?  If the Holy Spirit is moving you to consider receiving this free gift of eternal life (and that’s always the way it goes, for our hearts are so deceitful, that it takes the supernatural power of God to change our minds), don’t delay anymore. Today is the accepted time.  There are no guarantees about tomorrow.