Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed-without remedy.  Proverbes 29:1 NIV

We were given a conscience for a reason.  God doesn’t condemn us when we do something wrong, but he convicts us of our wrong doing.  When someone is convicted of a crime it is that they are found guilty.  They are condemned when they are sentenced.

As Christians we are all guilty.  Romans 3:23 says that “we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  But praise God that’s not the end of the story.  You see Jesus paid the price for our sins with His blood on the cross.  So we don’t have to be condemned.  We can be convicted and then repent and be given another chance.

The problem comes in when we are stubborn and our foolish pride gets in the way of our repentance.  When we refuse to accept that gentle nudge from God that tells us to get our business straight.  Just like a parent that may escalate punishment when a child does not respond to an easier or gentler punishment, God will execute a harsher penalty to get our attention.

Many times in the Old Testament of the Bible you can read where Jesus warned nations to turn from their evil ways.  We serve a loving God that doesn’t want any of us to come to harm.  However, we also serve a just God who executes discipline when we do wrong.  If we refuse to do right, then at some point we will be destroyed.

Time is short my friends, not one person reading this knows if they will live long enough to finish reading it much less if they are guaranteed tomorrow, or next week, or next month.  We just don’t know.  There is an urgency in our need to come to Christ.

My prayer today is that you have accepted this and turned your life over to Christ.  If you have not then let me tell you your foolish pride will be you undoing.  Don’t let it get in the way of your salvation.  Turn to God, repent of your sin, ask God to help you stop your sinful behavior.

Draw into a close relationship with Him so that you can clearly know when He is giving you that gentle nudge to correct your behavior.  Do this before the gentle nudge has to turn into you being beat over your head with a correcting stick.

So today, I leave you with a couple of thoughts.  One is that  “God don’t like ugly”.  When we do wrong, he wants us to correct that behavior.  The second thought is that God will rebuke you and give you many chances to repent, but at some point it will be too late.

Please turn to God before it is too late.  Don’t be destroyed by foolish pride.

Have a great day!