Friends, if you know what you’re doing is wrong, why are you waiting to repent? If you know that your behavior is unacceptable in the eyes of God, why are you delaying changing your behavior? Innumerable amounts of people will go to hell because of procrastination. They put off forsaking their sins even though they know it’s holding them back from a deep relationship with God, they put off raising the white flag and surrendering their hearts to God’s will because they figure they’ll eventually get around to it at a more convenient time.
Friends, abandoning sin is rarely convenient for your flesh. Giving up pornography is not convenient for the person who enjoys what it does for them but giving it up is necessary if you want to walk with Jesus. Giving up drunkenness is not convenient for the person who enjoys the sensation of being drunk but giving it up is necessary if you want to be with Jesus in eternity.
Friend, you’ve procrastinated repentance long enough. Romans 13:11-12 says, “…now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” The night is far spent friend. Death is closer today than it was yesterday.
Your opportunities to get right with God are decreasing in number. It’s not a promise that you’ll die slowly and have enough time to get right with God before you breathe your last breath. You know, that was my hope at one point. Before I was a Christian I wanted to live a long life of sin and lawlessness but then die slowly so that at the end of my life I’d have time to repent. Friend, some of you reading this column will die suddenly without warning. Maybe you will die in a car accident. Maybe you will choke on your food. Maybe you will have a brain aneurysm. Maybe you will die suddenly of a heart attack.
If you know what you’re doing is wrong, why are you waiting to repent? A lot of cigarette smokers have died of lung cancer because of procrastination. They knew the dangers of their addiction but their knowledge of the dangers of tobacco didn’t matter too much in the end because they refused to act on that knowledge. If you’re having sex with someone that you’re not married to, that’s called fornication, and having the knowledge that this behavior is something that God condemns will not do you any good if you refuse to let that knowledge lead you to flee sexual immorality. Jesus commands us to forgive those who’ve done us wrong. Stop putting that off. Someday it’ll be too late to forgive those who’ve wronged us and we will miss out on our chance to be forgiven by God.
I talked to someone recently who said that “God is already fine with you the way you are.” That seems to be the general consensus of our wicked world. God is fine with your white lies. God is fine with you watching rated-R movies. God is fine with you listening to filthy music. James 4:4 says, “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” If you make friendship with the sinful things of this world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
Today is the day to turn from your sin. Jesus loves you, and He died for you, and three days later he rose back from the dead. Believe in Him, verbally confess your sins to God, forsake your sins, and get water baptized, then ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit.