Articles
Seek The Lord
Seek The Lord
God's Word is true and powerful. God's word will be fulfilled because it is God's word. God does what He says He will do. God has said He will punish those who sin. God has said He will abundantly pardon those who return to Him.
God's word separates those who trust and obey from the rebellious. When one comes in contact with the Word of God he MUST respond. You either do what God asks or not. To say 'later' is to say 'NO'. To say 'yes' and then not DO, is to say no. Jesus said the wise man is the one who hears and does. To claim to trust God and then not respond in obedience to His Word is only to deceive yourself.
God has freely offered to forgive us saying He would have compassion and abundantly pardon (55: 7). Such is offered unto ALL but is not received by all. His offer in Isaiah was "Seek the LORD". Many spurn the offer. Many love the way of darkness rather than the light. Many will simply refuse to come to the LORD. Hence many will NOT be pardoned and will stand condemned for their sin.
Such offer comes with some built in time limits - "while He may be found". There are many circumstances and events that bring things to an end. Some men die thinking that they WILL, someday, return to the Lord. Some find that they have become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and no longer desire to return to God. Some will find that the LORD has come and they are ushered into judgment. "TODAY is the day of salvation. Harden not your hearts…" (Heb. 3:13-19).
Such offer to forgive involves turning from our ways and embracing the ways of the LORD. "Let the wicked forsake his way… and return to the LORD". Man must forsake HIS own way for that is what got him in trouble with the LORD in the first place! Our 'ways' and our thoughts are simply wrong. We are NOT God. We are unable to comprehend all the ramifications of our choices. We are not holy and righteous in our very core being. Hence we make choices that are unrighteous and ungodly. God offers forgiveness but demands that we return to walking in HIS way.
"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness" (Rom. 6:16-18).
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:3-4).
