One of my favorite quotes is from Neil DeGrasse Tyson who is a astrophysicist and planetary scientist. He says that, "One of the great challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think that you are right but not enough about the subject to know you're wrong."
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says, "In the acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
For all those who say I’m not ready right now. I’ve got too much going on, too many responsibilities, my life is too hectic to think about God all the time, to put God first. I like to sleep in on Sundays. If God is everywhere, why do I have to go to church to worship Him? That's the only day of the week I have time to mow the lawn. And, I don’t see why I have to give up the things I like to do to unwind. It's my right if I want to smoke cigarettes and throw back a few beers on the weekend. I don’t have a problem with that. At this moment my life is good. Really following God to the tee is only for those people who are seriously broken. I’m a good person. I believe in God, there Is nothing wrong with the way I live my life?
God knows who we are. He knows we are full of unrighteousness, pride, selfishness, self-focused, envious, jealous, in denial, etc. He know that we are week and we can do nothing apart from Him. We, on the other hand, understand that all men are sinners, we believe Romans 3:10 that says "there is none righteous, no, not one." The challenge arises when we start to compromise the word in our life by ignoring it, believing some of our unrighteousness is not that bad, at least I don't do this or that. We become like the pharisee who beets his chest and says I thank you Lord I am not like that tax collector over there.
God must bring us to the place where we see that we are utterly week and helpless with out Him. This is the hour (Good News Bible). When Paul says “this is the hour to receive, or now is the acceptable time,” He is saying that God has a day of salvation that will not last forever. There is only a small window of opportunity. This is not the time for people who believe themselves to be Christians to live consumed lives. Lives of ease and comfort, self-focused and self-governed.
It is time to get busy for the Lord and be workers together for Him. TODAY is the day of Salvation! There is NO time to delay. Redemption is nigh (which means a short distance away) and the Kingdom of God is at hand (meaning it is HERE right NOW)!
Rejoice therefore in the Lord and take up your Cross and follow Him.
Matthew 16:24-25 (GNB)
If anyone wants to come with me he must forget himself, carry his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will loose it; but whoever looses his life for my sake will find it.
Find it, what is it?
"It," is your life. We at times don't know, we forget that our life is truly not your own. At times we really believe that somehow our life belongs to us. Mainly because of what we see and understand of the world around us. However we do not know enough of the subject, which is the bible, Jesus, the Spirit, to know that our life in never our own to rule as we deem fit. Not at ANYTIME does it belong to us.
Proverbs 4:5-9 says to get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget the words of the Lord or swerve away from them. It says not to forsake which is to abandon or worse yet renounce wisdom.
Wisdom is from the Spirit, it is what keeps us from forgetting. Knowledge can only bring us so far.