Be Still and Know - "Give Glory To The Lord Your God Before It Is Too Late"

(from www.premierchristianradio.com)

1. Jeremiah 13:16
   
   
   
   
   
   'Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.'
   
   It may just be me, but I suspect that we are all good at putting things off. It may be filling in our tax returns, making it right with an aggrieved neighbour or buying Christmas presents, but I would guess that there are some things that we love to delay. We tell ourselves that have other, far more important things to do but, eventually, we can no longer delay. Jeremiah was desperately concerned that the people of Israel were putting off the most important thing of all – following the Lord. They were happy with the way things were and had no intention of changing. And the sad truth is that they never did change. Eventually, judgement fell upon them in the form of an invasion from the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar.
   
   The apostle Paul had exactly the same message for the church in Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 6:2 he declared: “Today is the day of salvation.” God calls us to follow him today; to live in the light of his salvation now. That is to say, there will come a day when it is too late to receive salvation. For Jeremiah’s hearers, the day passed and all they could do was stumble and fall down. When they looked for light, all they could find was darkness and gloom.
   
   
   
   This is a tough message but it’s a loving one too. If you have never accepted the free gift of new life in Christ, then today is the day when you need to respond. Tomorrow may never come. I know you’ve got lots of other things on, and it would seem more convenient to wait until you’ve got some free time, the children are settled, the extension is finished or you have completed your studies. However, today is the day of salvation. You need to reach out and receive God’s gift now. And if you have accepted Christ into your life, then today is the day to walk in greater obedience to him and follow him wherever he calls you to go.
   
   
   
   
   
   Question: What is God calling you to do today?
   
   Prayer: Lord God, I have decided not to put it off any longer. I gratefully accept your gift of life and ask that you will help me to live fully for you from this day onwards. Amen