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Here's a thought ...
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I Know What You Did
“And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. ” (Hosea 7:2 KJV)
A few years ago, there was a popular thriller showing at movie theaters virtually everywhere entitled, “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” The plot went something like this... Some young people were out enjoying themselves, drinking, and driving recklessly down darkened highways until their car struck a pedestrian. Fearing that this would cause irreparable damage to the rest of their lives, they concealed the tragedy. The next summer the thing they had hidden came back to threaten their very existence. The victim of their crime was going to make them bleed and die for what they had done.
God saw what you did, and he remembers everything ("all their wickedness"). He tells us that eventually your sins clutter your life with bad things ("now their own doings have beset them about"). We mess up our lives by our actions, and we trip over our own decisions. We know this. We know how what we do today can affect our futures. We know that if we are caught stealing, we will have a criminal record that will affect our employment prospects. We know that unprotected sex with people we barely know can lead to disastrous outcomes or even death. Some things we have done didn't immediately cause us any pain. Perhaps, we think we got away with it. No one else may even know. Our wrong doing is there, but we believe it is hidden like the proverbial “skeleton in the closet.” However, the Bible tells us that God saw what we did. He not only knows what we did last summer, but he knows everything you have ever done.
Incredibly, God worked out a plan, not to hack us up in revenge for our evil against Him, but to forgive us. We don't have to shed our blood, because he bled for us. Our bad choices result in things cluttering up our lives that we may trip over later, but Christ came so that we might have abundant life -- not a hampered one. Now we have a way to clean up all the things we have scattered around us. We can place each of our mistakes under the blood of Jesus. Once they are there, God forgets them. He can't see them any more. Out of sight ... out of mind. They are under the blood. All he sees now is the blood of his only son. “Then I will forget about their sins and no longer remember their evil deeds.” (Hebrews 10:17 CEV)
You may think that you aren't ready to give up your wild summers of fun just yet. You may think you have plenty of time to come to God and clean up your life later. Let me ask you something though... “Is what you are doing going to always work for you?” Is it working for you right now, or are your actions cluttering up you life with potential unwanted consequences? Why do you think your life isn't going the way you'd like? Think about the way you do things. Are you living a pure life, or do you know you are doing wrong? God tells us in the Bible, “Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5-7 ESV)
Eventually, if want your life to be a good one, you'll have to change. You won't change anything unless you begin to clean up your life. You need to put away all the things that have cluttered up your existence, and continues to mess things up for you. They continue to cause you to trip, to stumble, to make mistakes that further complicate your life. It is the most significant one of those infamous “vicious circles.” King David wrote in the book of Psalms, “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies.” (Psalms 119:59 MKJV) David said, when he thought about his ways, he decided it was time to change. He turned away from his old ways of doing things. He repented. That's what it means to repent. To turn away from your old ways, and begin doing things differently.
David turned to God. He was a King, but he understood that success in life, wealth, power, or even fame could not take away the guilt and shame of his mistakes. He looked at how he conducted his affairs, and he realized he needed to change. But, he took it one step further. It isn't enough to realize you should change. David “turned” from his old ways, and he began down a new way.
“As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end. But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.” (Romans 6:20-23 MSG)
Perhaps reading this has caused you to realize that you too need to change. Maybe, you already knew that. Either way... why don't you quit putting off what you know you inevitably need to do sooner or later. Why not make a decision right now to turn to God. Tomorrow may never come in your life. Your mistakes may come looking for you like the mistake those people made in that movie came looking for them. If your life ends before you turn to God, it will be too late. Now is the time. That is why you are reading this. It is no accident. You were suppose to consider your ways today. If, like David, you want to turn from your old ways, repeat the prayer below and start your new life right now.
“Heavenly Father, I know I have made mistakes, and I am sorry. I know I have made a mess in my life, and I believe you can change me. Help me to be better. I turn to you now, and I ask for forgiveness of all my sins. Place my wrongs under the blood of your son, Jesus, and remember them no more. I believe it, and I receive it in Jesus' name. Amen.”
If
you prayed the above prayer, we believe you were “saved.”
In other words, you are now on your way to becoming a new person. To learn more about your
new life, read the Bible, pray (WOW! You can actually talk to the CEO of the universe...), get into a good church and write us at: info@alice.cggc.org .
We would love to hear from you.
May God bless you and keep you for ever and ever. Amen! |