We all know what it is to come up on some road construction where they have one lane shut down for a stretch of distance, which means you have only one lane open for 2-way traffic to get through. And oftentimes, that open lane is ‘blind’ to you because it may curve or have dips and hills and you have no clear vision to the other end where traffic resumes to a normal two lane road. So a construction worker is assigned on both ends with a sign on a pole, with one side saying ‘STOP’, and the other side usually reads: ‘SLOW’.

I kid you not, every time I see one of those people out there, with a lunch box and water bottle close by and usually a two-way radio in hand, I think to myself: “Gosh...how boring would that be to stand there all day long and flip that sign back and forth?”

And yet...what an incredibly important job they have. Imagine coming up on such a scene in a mountain pass with sharp curves and steep drop offs where some of those passes might not even have guard rails; and the worker assigned to direct traffic falls asleep on the job, or is nowhere to be seen...so you proceed thinking the road is clear. A worst-case scenario would be having a head on collision with oncoming traffic; but even having multiple cars following you in that one narrow lane before coming up on a train of other cars heading in your direction...would create some serious challenges. Let me share with you why this illustration ‘popped in my head’ this morning...

I have to admit to you, I have this recurring ‘battle’ in my mind when I sit down to study, write, and then post these messages every morning. I hear those not-so-quiet voices rebuke me, telling me...”get off this topic of sin; can’t you give it a rest and talk about other things that will encourage people?” I mean...I am well over four years in to posting these daily messages, and in case you have not been able to tell, there is a continuous ‘theme’ interwoven through these lessons.

Then, I am reminded of Noah and the ‘assignment’ he was given by God, which went on for nearly a hundred years before the floods came. Maybe if he had only changed up his message on ‘righteousness’ (2 Peter 2:5) and focused more on ‘worship’ or ‘giving’, maybe throw in some marriage conferences on how to better communicate with your spouse...might have brought more folks in to help with his ‘ark project’. (I’m not knocking those subjects here, either!)

Or that passage from Isaiah 30 comes to mind where God was using the prophet to call out His people for their sinful ways... and they rebuked Isaiah, telling him to stop with the messages of holiness and doing what was right in God’s eyes, demanding they be told ‘smooth and pleasant things’ (Isa. 30:8-11). And then there is the passage in Hebrews 3:12-13, where believers are admonished to ‘exhort one another...DAILY...lest any of them be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” We are warned to ‘give more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away’ (Heb. 2:1) and to ‘lay aside every cumbersome weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and to run the race with endurance’ (Heb. 12:1).

And what prompted Paul to write: “Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1) What does the ‘fear of God’ have to do with our ‘happy walk of faith with Jesus’? Or tell me why Peter had to be such a ‘wet blanket’, reminding us that “As God is holy, so too shall we be holy in ALL our conduct...conducting ourselves throughout the time of our stay here in fear’? (1 Pet. 1:14-17)

What did these writers of old know... that we seem to have a hard time understanding when it comes to how serious God is about all this?

Maybe it has to do with the fact we have grown a bit numb and calloused to some of those words I mentioned yesterday...that keep popping up in our Bibles, words of warning that exhort us to ‘repent...or perish’ (Luke 13:3,5). Is it possible...we've actually 'fallen asleep'? (Matt. 25:1-13)

Friends...to ‘perish’ is not a good thing. We are told that it is NOT...God’s will for ‘any to perish but to come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9).

Care to guess why people are ‘perishing’ even at this moment in time?  Because the ‘god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe’ and the gospel has been ‘veiled to those who are perishing’ (2 Cor. 4:3-4); but... that ‘veil can be removed...when one turns to the Lord’ (2 Cor. 3:16). [to ‘turn to the Lord’ is what it means to ‘repent’].

Yes, I’m fully aware how this ‘message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing’ (1 Cor. 1:18). And the people who are most susceptible to being deceived in the ‘last days’ are those who ‘are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved’ (2 Thess. 2:9-12).

And as I pointed out yesterday, Jesus reminds us in John 10:27-28...that He indeed ‘gives them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of His hand’; but beware lest you forget who He is extending this promise to: “Those...who hear His voice” ...and actually ‘follow Him’. These...are the ones He ‘knows’, as stated there in vs. 27; unlike the ‘many who will say in that day, Lord, Lord...and who did many wonderful works in His name’ (Matt. 7:21-22). Those are the people who will hear: “I never knew you...depart from me you who continue to sin.” (23).

If this wasn’t so serious...I hardly think I would still be here over four years later...preaching the same message. And please know this: I’m not here to argue or debate over ‘doctrine’. On the contrary...I can’t help but to keep imploring you to simply open up your Bible and read these numerous verses I point out...read them over for yourself. I would hate for anyone in my circle of contacts...to be able to say to God...”I never heard things like this before.”