Everything in our lives takes time to get right. It takes time to learn anything. It takes time to break bad habits and make good habits. And it takes a long time to get really good at anything. Therefore, we naturally think it must take a long time to get right with God. It must take years of monastic devotion and fanatic self-denial. We think it must be rare for anyone to achieve that kind of relationship. As we ponder that path, all we can see are years of hardship, destitution, poverty, and distress. So, we give up before we have even begun the journey.
- What if I told you it only takes a moment to get right with God?
- What if I told you God has already suffered everything for you?
- What if I told you God is offering his righteousness to you now?
The reason we think it takes so long to get right with God is because we have a wrong concept of God. We must put aside our flawed concepts and accept God…
- God is good. Not just a little bit good. Not partway good. Not mostly good. But perfectly and completely good.
- God is love. Not just a puppy dog love. Not conditional love. Not strong moral love. But perfect and total love.
Consider the short story of Jonah. He was commissioned by God to warn Nineveh. But Jonah ran away from God. That doesn’t work so well. Later, from inside the fish, Jonah decides to get right with God. Instantly Jonah is restored. Even after this disastrous failure, God repeats his commission for Jonah. This time Jonah obeys.
Is there a Nineveh in your life? Is there something God is warning you about? Are you running away from God? Don’t keep running. It never ends well. Instead, stop right now and get right with God.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:8-10 NLT)
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. (Colossians 2:13 NLT)
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT)
If it takes you longer than a moment to do that, you have a wrong concept of God’s love and mercy. It may take a lifetime to learn how to stay right with God, but it only takes a moment to get right.