by John Thomas
One of the yummiest parts of my childhood was picking up empty Coke bottles and retuming them to the store for a nickel deposit. The trick was to pick up enough bottles on the way to the store to buy another Coke and
your favorite candy. NOW-N-LATERs were the candy of choice on many, days. Sour apple was my favorite.
I suggest that our relationship with God must be like the name ofthat sweet, ever sticky candy. It is not enough to serve Him once. It is not enough to serve Him only later in life. We must serve Him NOW-N-LATER!
Matthew 6:25-33 Tells us not to worry about our life and the things it takes to sustain it. Then He tells us to do righteously and He will see that we have the things we need. Be active working for Him today. He will take care of tomorrow.(v.34)
Joshua 24:15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Psalm 18:24 "This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
We must serve Him today. We must serve Him Now.
Serving once is not enough. We must continue on the right path. Just because we were once healthy and "in shape" doesn't mean we are still healthy and "in shape". It takes a lot of work to stay on track! So it is with our spiritual lives as well.
Galatians 1:6a. "I marvel that ye are so soon removed."
Galatians 5:4b. "Ye are fallen from grace."
2 Peter 2:21-22 "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is tumed to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
We have a grotesque picture of what retuming to sin looks like to God.
We must serve God; Some NOW-N-LATER!