Seek the LORD while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him and to our God, for He will freely forgive.     Isaiah 55:6-7 HCSB

A couple of mornings ago, as I drove along a road near my home, I looked at all the Halloween decorations. Halloween had been the night before, so this was the morning of All Saints’ Day. I find it really interesting that it’s the same way for Mardi Gras. Several months of debauchery go on, and then at the stroke of midnight, it stops to celebrate Ash Wednesday and lead us into Lent and the Easter Season.

In the story of Cinderella, it was the opposite. We know that Cinderella had this wonderful ball and danced with the prince, but at the stroke of midnight, everything went back to her life of drudgery.

We all know that in real life, people don’t change who they are or how they think from one minute to the next. We live out what is in our hearts. What is in our hearts is obvious to others in the way we think and act. We can’t live like the devil right up until 11:59 pm and suddenly become God-fearing souls at midnight.

It is important, however, that you understand wherever you are and whatever time you are reading this, now is the time for you to be saved. We all have the opportunity to be saved. Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek.”

Numerous passages in the Bible tell us Jesus is coming back soon. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” And in Matthew 26:44, Jesus said, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

We are saved when God calls us to salvation. We must first accept that He is God, we must believe in Jesus Christ and believe He died to save us from our sins. We must confess our sins and repent and accept God’s forgiveness. We must ask Him to strengthen us against temptation.

We are told in James 4:8 if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Then James said we must cleanse our hands as sinners and purify our hearts as double-minded people! We come to God unclean, but we can count on Him to help us get clean. We know that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from our sins.

The time to draw near is now. Don’t wait until you spend time in deliberate sin because it may be too late. Turn to God today. Draw near to Him. Repent of your sin and ask Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

The next time the clock strikes midnight might just be too late. Don’t delay.

Have a great day!