Saturday 17 June 2017

How Bad ?

We live in a secular country, where the State has won out over the Church, and in fact almost anything to do with God. Our media pushes the ‘godless’ agenda in programming, so much so that you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘God people’ are deranged, misguided, and not in their right mind. When a minister or priest is shown on TV, it is usually with a theme of corruption or not to be a laughing stock.

London has seen a ‘Towering Inferno’ in real life, like no other in our country, and the death toll keeps rising. The seriously injured are spread between several hospitals, and the search for bodies continues. According to emergency services, no further survivors are expected to be found. As I watched the constantly repeated newscasts, I was left with a burning question.

How many of these good people cried out to God when they feared for their lives? How many self confessed humanists, secularists, and atheists found a voice for prayer? How bad does it have to get before we pray? To place the question closer to home, how many lapsed and backslidden Christians, faced with a horrible end, came face to face with the fact that God DID exist, and found themselves calling out for forgiveness, regretting their prodigal lifestyle? God knows that every one affected needs to know and feel comfort, and where better to get them than from God, who is love (1 John 4:8).

These questions troubled me, and still do. Those touched are no different from us, except that an impending disaster may have sharpened their minds, and focussed their thinking to the one thing in this life that’s important, and that is how we finish. Sadly, for most of us it takes a life changing circumstance to make us understand the very importance of life, how we live it, and the legacy we leave behind. The good news of the Gospel is that the story doesn’t end there because we believe in a forgiving God who gives eternal life to all who call on Him, no matter when. Remember the thief on the cross next to Jesus? He is spending his eternity in heaven because of his simple prayer. What about this great promise which is effective for all?.....

“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13  

No comments:

Post a Comment