Why Delay? Choose Today.

We all get to make choices in life. Some choices hold little to no bearing on our lives, like calling in to choose a singer on American Idol or The Voice? Choosing a favorite singer is a simple task, and it holds no consequence for you no matter who you choose.

What about choosing a mate? Before we choose to have a relationship with someone we want to get to know them right? We talk, spend time together, etc.. You may ask around to see what others know about him/her. As you get to know someone, you can choose to have a relationship with them if they possess the qualities you like. This is a VERY important decision and one you will definitely feel the consequences for good or bad, for years to come.

How about choosing your god? Wouldn't you say that decision is an important one? I would say it is THE MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE you will ever make. Sorry to yell. :) Then why are not talking about it? Why do people go about their daily lives caught in the rat race, never stopping to consider the consequences of not making a decision?



I think for many it's a question they don't want to face. It's a lot more to handle in a fleeting moment, and for most people, that's all the time they have. Too busy, the American way.

For others, I think they'd just as soon make up in their minds who they want god to be. That way they can be happy about their choice to say, "I believe God is all love, and would never send anyone to hell." Or go the other extreme and say "I've done too many bad things. There is no way God wants anything to do with me." We may assume we know God. But all of us make faulty assumptions about God and His character. We make Him up in our minds. We throw human qualities on Him, and associate Him with other authority figures we have had in our lives. But that's not real. That's not the truth.

So how can we know who God really is? It's simple really... read His word (ie the Bible). He tells us in His own words, through His son Jesus Christ, through prophets, and through the stories. (For those who struggle with reading or just prefer it, there are now audio Bibles widely available on many websites. You can listen for free!!)

As you begin to find in the Bible, God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) has many words and names that are used to describe Him. To name a few: author of life, beginning and the end, bright morning star, chosen one, creator, deliverer, savior, everlasting father, healer, the bread of life, living water, almighty, righteous, judge, king, great shepherd, I could go on and on and on... but I'll let you continue this list. :)

So if we don’t choose God/Jesus, what happens? You choose the devil. That's right, you automatically default to choosing the devil and hell. Why? Because...

Me (sinner) - Jesus's Blood (payment for my sin) = Heaven
Me (sinner) - 0 = Hell

You see we must have Jesus. We must choose Jesus for our sins to be paid for, with a zero balance we can enter heaven. Can you be good enough to enter heaven without Jesus?

Romans 3:23
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

Can we choose God and not Jesus?

John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Now lets look at your other choice, the devil, and the words that describe him: serpent, adversary, tempter, prince of demons, unclean spirit, author of all evil, murderer, father of lies, power of darkness, dragon, the accuser. Ya, I think you get the point.

Looking at our two lists, who do you want to spend time with and get to know better? Who do you want to be your god?

Still not really do choose? It is so important that you choose ASAP?

First, our days are numbered. No one is promised tomorrow. No one knows the hour they will pass from earth into eternity. To put it off until tomorrow means you can easily put it off till the next day, then the next, and may never allow yourself to simply choose, as you may this very moment. '

Joshua 24:15
"Choose yourselves this day whom you will serve."

Second, why would you want to live another day held captive by the bondage of your sin? Why would you want to live another day without God's love? Why would you want to live another miserable day on this sinful earth without the hope/promise of eternity with God in Heaven? I don't know how anyone makes it through one day without God! I'm serious. You may have heard the song by Marvin Sapp "Never would have made it". That's me. That's my theme song... "I never would have made it. I would have lost my mind, a long time ago. If it had not been for you. Never would have made it!"

Lastly (not really, I could keep going, but for the sake of the post) the Bible tells us in Matthew 24 that Jesus will return again to take His believers to Heaven, the rapture.

Matthew 24:30-36
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Though no one knows the day or the time, and they are foolish to claim they do (scripture clearly states that). The Bible does gives us clues as to how to tell the time is near, and many believe it is now…

2 Timothy 3
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

There have always been those who warn that we are in the last days, but there has been a major shift in the past few years. Christians around the world are sending out warnings and sounding the alarm that the rapture could be very soon. There are prophecies in the Bible that must be fulfilled before He returns. Many scholars believe they have all been fulfilled!

We are currently in the age of grace. When Jesus came the first time, He gave his life, was tortured and killed on a cross, so our sins could be forgiven. We can simply choose Jesus and receive His grace (Grace = undeserved forgiveness).

When Jesus comes again, the rapture signifies the end of the period of God’s grace and ushers in a time of judgment for the sins of the earth (Revelations).

Why am I telling you this? It’s frightening to think of God’s wrath, of judgment. But if it’s the truth don’t you want someone to tell you about it and warn you ahead of time? Do you want to hear the truth? The truth is, you MUST choose.

If you choose Jesus now, you get to be with God/Holy Spirit here on earth and go to Heaven for eternity once you die, or are raptured. If you do not choose Jesus, you will have to endure the consequences of your sins, wrath, judgment, and eternal separation from God.

For some of you, you already know all of this. Is there any good reason not to choose God? Some people may say....

I want to control my life…
How is that going for you? Do you enjoy carrying the world on your shoulders? What are you going to do about that empty void in your spirit? How long can you keep going?

You may be distracted by life and survival…
One of the devil's best tools is distracting people with entertainment and business. God forbid we actually think, contemplate, and give our spirits enough space to actually hear from God himself, speaking in His still small voice.

You may not want to be a Christian because you have seen Christians do terrible things, or act in ways you would never want to act. I'll throw a couple words out there... boring, judgmental, sinful, evil, unloving, self-righteous to name a few.

Boring: Have you read the Bible? There are no boring people or stories in there! You have tax collectors, prostitutes, prophets who go before Kings who threaten to murder them, Moses who was almost killed as a child, rose to be a prince, then committed murder, ran away, found God, came back to lead a whole nation of people out of Egypt and through the desert for 40 years before bringing them to the edge of the promised land. Not boring...

Christians are also sinners. I wish it wasn't true. I wish once we were saved we no longer fell to sing. But we live in a fallen world where sin reigns and even the best Christians are capable of great sin when we take our eyes of God. So we set our eyes and expectations on God, not other Christians.

I'm not good enough, I've done too many bad things…
Then you are the perfect candidate. Truly, admitting you are a sinner is the first step toward accepting Christ.

I gave this message in prison a few days ago. I asked them "Please raise your hand if you are a sinner" every hand went up instantly. I told them it is an advantage to be able to see that and be honest with ourselves. Outside those walls, people like to cover their sin like it doesn’t exist. Or convince themselves that they are a good person so they will get to go to heaven. Hiding and denying sin doesn’t make it disappear any more than closing my eyes makes me disappear. * Reminder: only the blood of Jesus pays for our sins.

So, let's hear what Jesus said about sinners…

Luke 5:32
I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent."

Luke 7:36-48
One of the Pharisees asked him (Jesus) over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town prostitute, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”

Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Oh? Tell me.”

 “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”

Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”

Would you like your sins forgiven? I thought you'd never ask.

The Bible tells us to Confess, Believe, and Follow.

CONFESS: 1 John 1:9If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin.

BELIEVE: Romans 10:9
If you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment of sin.

FOLLOW: John 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Amen.  If you chose God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit you just made the best choice of your entire life. You are a new creation!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

My best advice for new Believers:
1. Get a Bible and read it daily
2. Find a quiet place to pray, and do it daily (God loves to hear your heart)
3. Find a good church where they preach the gospel straight from the Bible. A place where you can grow spiritually, and in community with other believers.
4. Listen to Christian music and talk radio (I recommend Bott Radio network; I listen all day at work. They have great Bible teachers all day long.)

As I said before, it will not be easy, but if you keep your eyes on God, you will make it just fine.  May God bless you and cover you as you learn to walk in His ways.