Now is the day of salvation.
If you are reading those words and thinking along the lines of “Yeah, today my candidate is going to win and all will work out just fine” that is not quite the direction I'm headed in this post. But keep reading, for I have a much better destination in mind.
It has been a turbulent election cycle. So many contentious words. So many accusations. So much turmoil. Today the ballots are being cast and soon we all hope to know the outcome. My last blog post had to do with the fallacy of lifting politics to the place of religion. For people of that mindset to have their candidate win today it will certainly feel like the day of salvation. And if theirs is the candidate on the losing side, then I imagine it will feel like the beginning of a disaster. Such are the near polar opposites as the election has approached.
Tomorrow. What of tomorrow? Or what if November 4th never comes? Or what if it comes for everyone else except for you and me? Where you will stand in terms of eternity?
I’m a pastor within the Reformed branch of Protestant Christianity and so there are a number of things I believe to be true as I read the Bible. Among those beliefs are that time will not just run on forever. Human history, as we know it, will come to an end and the definitive marker of its end will be the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory. He will gather all of those people who are his, both those living at the time of his return and all of those who had faith in him while they lived but died before that glorious day. He will gather all of his own and they will be with him forever. Human history, as we know it, will come to an end but God operates on a timeline that has no beginning or ending, and all those who have faith in Jesus will spend eternity in his very presence. I don’t have to know any of the particular details to know that at the very least it will be amazing!
But there is a catch. That future is only for those with faith in Jesus. There is another eternal destination for those without faith. The Bible gives us some clues about that as well. Suffice to say that I believe it will be very, very bad. It will be bad, even horrible, in ways that will be worse than anything we can imagine.
Two possible paths in eternity. Which will yours be?
In Daniel 5 we read the story of a man who seemed to have it all. Power, money, friends…everything he could possibly want. But at a big party it gets revealed to him that time is short and from God’s point-of-view his life has been found wanting. Confronted with the truth and an opportunity to repent, he does nothing. Daniel 5:30 says:
“That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.”
That very night. As important as our election might be, there is an infinitely more important choice before each and every person. That is the choice of what to do about the person of Jesus. Believe in him as Savior and live with him as Lord? Or not? These are the only two options God gives us. There is no wide area in the middle where we might hang out before making the final decision. Paul urges us to see the time to decide in this way:
“Working together with him,
then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“In a favorable time I
listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Later today, maybe tonight, or perhaps tomorrow we will have an idea of who will sit in the White House as President for the next four years. At the extremes of their supporters will be either great rejoicing or great anguish. No matter which of the candidates it is the Bible's truth is that the Lord Jesus sits on his throne, right now, and he will never be moved. What will you make of him?
May today be the day of your salvation.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: BBC.com
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