WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
When I was a child up until I turned 11 I was in church every Sunday morning and evening, Wednesdays in the evenings, Youth group, Sunday school, parties, all the time, however I never heard anything about Salvation, nor do I recall any talks about how to get to heaven and the throne room of God. For all I know God may have been trying to get a hold of me but I didn’t know it was Him and so I never paid attention. It wasn’t until I turned 42 that all of that came to an [AH HA MOMENT]. Since that time, I have been studying the Scriptures and have uncovered the secret to getting closer to the Lord.
How many times has God called on us, beckoning us to come unto Him; Jesus Christ said “I came to redeem that which was lost!”
That which was lost was the personal relationship that God established between His Creation Mankind and Himself. It seems that after the fall in the Garden mankind turned their backs on God and seemed to have lost all interest in following Him. He calls to us and we fail to listen or to read what He wants. SHAME ON US! However, God doesn’t want us to perish and so He continually calls us giving us all the chances there are for us to turn to Him.
In Proverbs, we find that God is telling us how to get back to Him.
{Prov. 1:22 How long, O naïve ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?} Naïve ones? Here is what Webster says is [Naïve= unaffectedly simple; artless; unsophisticated.]
[Scoff= an expression of scorn or derision; to mock or jeer.]
[Fool= a silly person; simpleton; a jester; a dupe; deceiver]
{Pro.1:23 Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my Spirit on you; I will make My Words known to you.}
Here is God’s Promise to give of His Holy Spirit to us ward, if we turn to Him. God will reveal His Words to us so that we may understand and gain wisdom through His Spirit. So that we may stand when the enemy comes against us.
{Prov. 1:24 Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out My hand, and no one paid attention; 25 and you neglected all My Counsel, and did not want My Reproof;}
He CALLED, we REFUSED; imagine that, WE REFUSED God’s CALL to us!!! We never paid attention because we were too busy trying to live our lives without God. Life is so simple without God, it is difficult to live with Him directing us, or should I say ATTEMPTING to direct us. Yes, living for the Lord IS difficult, just study the life of Christ while He walked on this earth among us. How simple was His walk?
{Prov. 1:26 I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, 27 When your dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you.}
WOW that is some strong language that God used here. He will laugh at us in our trying times, our horrible moments that hit us. Calamity, distress, dread, anguish things that would make us despair, and lose hope. What is your worst nightmare? Think of that and what you will be like of that comes to happen in your life.
{Prov. 1:28 Then they will call on Me, but I will not answer; they will seek Me diligently, but they will not find Me, 29 because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.}
[Fear={Hebrew: yir-aw = reverence x dreadful; x exceedingly} I believe the word here means to actually fear the Lord and all that He can do; also to revere Him in His Holiness and Authority. I do not believe that we can separate the meaning here because I think it can be used either way.
{Prov. 1:30 They would not accept My counsel, they spurned all My reproof.}
Is God speaking to you? Is He trying to get your attention? Most important of all, are you seeking to hear from the Lord, are you listening for His Spirit to minister to you? Do you give God ample time to visit with you? He asks, does not demand, (as that would make us robots instead of willing children and servants) that we spend time alone with Him so that He might teach us all things that we need to know.
{Prov. 1:31 So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be satiated with their own devices.
Galatians 5:19-21 Identifies the deeds of the flesh which is what is meant here by the fruit of their own way and their own devices. Those things and ways that we choose rather than choose the things and the ways of the Lord.
{Prov. 1:32 For the waywardness of the naïve shall kill them, and the complacency of the fool shall destroy them.}
[Complacency = *Webster’s: contentment; satisfaction; smugness]
OHHHHHH but do not despair for all is not done yet. We still have verse 33 to go, because you see there is a Promise there if we follow what it says. I know that after reading all of this it can be disheartening and scary, but God Promised to never leave us or forsake us, and so we can be secure in knowing Him and His Truth.
Prov. 1:33 “BUT HE WHO LISTENS TO ME SHALL LIVE SECURELY, AND SHALL BE AT EASE FROM THE DREAD OF EVIL.”}
OK, so now you know what you must do and how important it is to do it; so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????????????
PRAY THIS PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for not listening to you and for rejecting your wisdom and Word. I ask that You teach me how to WAIT upon You that I might not miss out on Your plan. I seek You and desire to draw nearer to You so please guide me. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I Pray, AMEN