Sometimes in life you have great timing. This isn’t a huge deal, but sometimes you have a green light every time you come to a stoplight while driving through town. It was great timing when my current employer offered me a job last year. I’m pointing out great timing because Brad St. Clair with Repent and Turn Ministries and I recently witnessed at the Miranda Lambert concert in Springfield, MO. It was great timing, because she had just won three CMA awards less than a week before the concert. Can you imagine how electrifying it must have been to see her? I’m sure the crowd went crazy.
But sometimes in life we have rotten timing. Imagine you are planning your 20th wedding anniversary and your spouse comes home that very day and tells you that she wants a divorce. Or maybe you had been planning on retiring right when the economy crashed and then all of a sudden your 401k just vanished.
But here’s the absolute worst timing that you could ever have and that is to wait until Judgment Day to confess that Jesus is Lord. The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Why would that be so horrible? Because if you wait until Judgment Day to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, it will be too late!
Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. We are all going to die and we will all stand before the great Creator, our Holy God on Judgment Day. When you stand before God on that day, one of two things will happen. 1. You will foolishly represent yourself on Judgment Day and if God judges you by the 10 Commandments, you will be found guilty. One little lie will separate you from God for all of eternity. Let’s face it, we’ve all done much worse than that during our lifetime. 2. Jesus Christ will represent you.
Why do we need Jesus to represent us on Judgment Day? Because we have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). Our sin is rebellion against Him. Any sin is just like shaking your fist at God and telling Him that He’s not in charge. God is Holy and He takes sin very seriously. Revelation 21:8 says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. The Bible also says that no adulterer, fornicator or idolator will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
So this is very serious. God made us and God loves us, but we’ve all sinned against Him. The punishment for that sin is eternal separation from God. The unrighteous will suffer unbearable pain forever and ever. But God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to walk this earth 2,000 years ago. Jesus never sinned in thought, word or deed. He never lied, stole, lusted or coveted anything. He perfectly did what God the Father wanted Him to do. He suffered horribly at the hand of the Roman soldiers. They beat Him beyond recognition and then He hung on the cross for six grueling hours. He died, was buried and rose from the grave on the third day.
God offers you everlasting life if you repent by turning away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. Stop trusting in your own goodness (which isn’t good to begin with, when compared to our righteous God) and put your trust in Jesus alone to save you. Then God will give you a new heart with new desires. You become a new creature in Christ. You want to please God. You turn from your wicked ways. (Then read your Bible every day, even if it’s only one verse.)
This seems like a simple choice. Why would anyone ignore God, reject Jesus and suffer the wrath of God for all of eternity in Hell; all for the pleasure of their sins? It makes much more sense to bow the knee and confess with the tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Ask God to forgive you for your sins, turn away from them and put your faith in Jesus and in Him alone to save you from the wrath to come. Don’t foolishly wait for rotten timing to snag you. Take advantage of great timing and repent and believe the Gospel. Won’t you do this today?