Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy. Revelation 22:11 HCSB
Chapter 22 is the last chapter of the Bible. My former pastor used to like to say that he had read the end of the book and we win. He was referring to those of us who are truly saved. In Revelation 22:7 Jesus says, “Look, I am coming quickly! The one who keeps the prophetic words of this book is blessed.” Jesus is telling us through this book that his return is imminent. None of us know the day or the hour when He will return to bring His children home. None of us know the day or the hour we will be called up to be with Him. Those things are really not that important. We are told that our time here on earth is like a mist, we appear for a while and then vanish (James 4:14). But what is important is how we live and behave while we are here. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Well, we only get one chance to get to heaven. We have our whole life to accomplish this, but none of us know how long our lives will be.
The term tough love is used to describe a form of discipline which teaches self responsibility. It is defined as promotion of a person’s welfare, especially that of an addict, child, or criminal, by enforcing certain constraints on them or requiring them to take responsibility for their actions. I worked my entire career in law enforcement and spent the last 22 years of it as a probation/parole officer. Sadly, I saw a common trend with offenders. Those who had parents who took up for them when they did wrong spent their entire lives in and out of the judicial system. Parents who exhibited tough love, in some cases, tended to help their children get onto the right path. I will say that those who I saw that were successful in completing their probation or parole had parents who exhibited tough love and the offender got into church and was saved. Unfortunately, in some cases the parents exhibited tough love, but the offender did not change.
We like to think we are better than a common criminal. I warn you against this. If you are violating God’s commandments and breaking His laws you are no better than the one sitting in jail. You may not be locked behind bars, but you are in bondage to your sin.
God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die a horrible, humiliating death on the cross to free us from our bondage of sin. This is freely offered, but is not forced. We are not forced to accept Christ as our Savior. It’s a privilege that is offered to us. If we accept this offer, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. If we refuse to accept this offer we will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15). Romans 1:24-32 describes the downward spiral that a sinner suffers when God abandons him or her. There will come a time, if we refuse to let go of our sinful ways, that God will give us over to our evil desires. We are free to continue our downward spiral all the way to hell if we choose to do so.
In our scripture passage today, we are told that whatever course we are setting for ourselves now will determine our final destiny. So, I ask you today, are you prepared to spend eternity as you are right now? If you are lost in sin, are you prepared to spend eternity in hell with all the evil that exists in a place where God cannot be found? Our scripture passage tells us that God is coming quickly. This means that we know He is coming, we just don’t know when. It could be before you finish reading this or it could be years from now. Whether we are raptured or we die a natural death, we will either spend eternity in heaven or hell.
God is loving, merciful and kind. But He also is a parent who practices tough love. We experience His wrath when we are disobedient. We must accept full responsibility for our actions. How we are living right now is setting the course for our final destiny. Be sure you are on the right course. God’s final act of tough love will leave us in a place where we don’t want to be and we will be there for eternity. If you are on the wrong path, turn to Him today while there is still time.
Have a great weekend!