"Be careful of what you ask for, because you just might get it." This is a statement that my Mom would use often when one of us three boys would wish for a circumstance to change in our lives, hopefully improving our situation. We've all wished for things to change from time to time like, I wish I was older (that's when I was young). That wish came true but now I can't go back. I wish I could play sports like that guy or sing like that girl or was as smart as that person or was as handsome or good looking as that one. Zig Zigler used to talk about wishing for other people’s talent. He would say, "What would you do with someone else's talent? The answer is, not a cotton pickin thing, if you're not already using the talent you've got." I wish I had more money. The famous multimillionaire John D. Rockefeller was once asked, "How much money is enough?" to which he replied, "Just a little more." It seems that we are never satisfied. God gave you the spouse that you asked for but now you tell Him, "That was OK God but, you know the one I really wanted is that one over there." I wish I was thinner, stronger, taller, shorter, and healthier; the list goes on and on. Here's another one I've heard a lot lately, "I wish Jesus would return." That's one we might want to think about a little more. Are you really ready for Jesus' return? Zephaniah tells us that we should be in repentance in Chapter 2: 1-3, "Gather together-yes, gather together, you shameless nation. Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord's anger begins. Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow His commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you-protect you from His anger on that day of destruction." (NLT). Jesus Himself tells us in Matt. 24:37-39, "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes." I am afraid that many in the Church are going to be caught saying, "I wish I had kept His commands, I wish I had studied His Word so that I would have been prepared, I wish I had lived my life as Jesus instructed, I wish I would have given my life to Him before He took mine from me." Just like Adam and Eve, we have the choice to follow and obey or to do it our own way. If you don't want to get left behind then it's time you got on the boat. There is only one way out and that is through Jesus Christ. Accept Him as your Savior, believe in your heart that he is the one true Son of God, that He died on the cross for your sins and that on the third day he arose from the grave to give those who believe everlasting life, and change your life today to give up your old ways because you have been reborn into a new Christian life of action, not just passively sitting by and waiting. Do this now and we will sit at His table together. Pastor Dean
Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Outreach & Ministries Pastor for LHF.
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