From the Pulpit | Seek God now
Published:Thursday | September 13, 2018 | 12:00 AMTamara Bailey/Gleaner Writer
ELLEN STREET, Manchester:
Proverbs 1:24-29: "Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord."
No one likes to feel like an outcast. The feeling of rejection is one of the worst feelings known to man. However, sometimes after rejection, hope chips in, and there is a glimmer of light that says its' time to move to the next door. But what do you do when there are no more doors, and disobedience has ruined all your chances?
This may very well be the case when Jesus puts in his second appearance and you are not sure whether you are part of the righteous chosen.
FIND GOD NOW
"I want to remind us that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, but we must respond to his call. In Isaiah, it says, 'Seek ye the Lord while He may be found', and it's not about finding the time when we are ready, but it is about finding God when He can be found. That time is now. Man must find God when they are in their right mind, when they have health and strength, when they are sober, not when death is staring you down and when nothing is left," said Pastor Vera Stewart of the Ellen Street New Testament Church during a recent church service.
He said that God is not looking for perfect people as perfection does not exist on earth.
"Call upon Him while He is near. We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. None of us were good, none of us were fit for heaven, but we need to respond to the call and seek God in time. Have we answered to the call of God on our lives, have we said yes to Him? If not, then we need to do so before it is too late. A wish does not put anybody in glory. We must accept Him and serve Him, and make your calling and election sure."
Stewart said that at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what people think or say, it only matters how God feels about us.
"Tomorrow maybe sorrow. Today, when you are conscious and in your right mind and have the blood warm and running in your veins, accept God. What will be said of us by the preacher and the people doesn't matter much, but it is what God will say, and so, we must prepare," he noted.