The Eternal Church of God

Romans 13:11

And that, knowing the time,  now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Colonel Rahl was a commander of British troops stationed in Trenton, New Jersey during our Revolution. He was playing cards when a courier brought him an urgent message. Rahl took the letter and put it in his pocket as he continued his game. The message read that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware. Rahl didn't bother to read it until the game was finished. When he finally read the note, he realized its seriousness. He hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but his procrastination ruined him. He and many of his men were killed while the rest of the regiment was captured.

Nolbert Quayle made an interesting comment about this incident. He wrote, “Only a few minutes' delay cost him his life, his honor, and the liberty of his soldiers. Earth's history is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions. Tomorrow is the excuse of the lazy and refuge of the incompetent.”

This is a profound lesson of history that should be deeply considered by this last era of God’s Church in which we live (Rev. 3:14-22). God has given each of us a personal message to repent and change before Christ returns. Through the printed Word, and by the guidance of His Spirit, He further points out sins that we need to deal with and issues that must not go unresolved. It is like God has placed a message in our pocket, and there it sits waiting for us to pick up His note, read it and take action. If we hope to achieve the better resurrection, we must not delay (Heb. 11:35).

Are we currently trying to eradicate these ungodly behaviors? Have we dealt with issues that God has brought to our attention through the hearing sermons, reading Church literature and in our study of the Bible? Or, are we instead putting these warnings off to possibly consider at some other point in time? If this is the case, consider this truth. When we finally come to our senses—it might be too late (Rev. 22:11). Now is our moment in time to act!

We should remember the words of the apostle Paul as he wrote to us and every Christian down through the ages. We cannot procrastinate any longer. The time of the end is nearer then we would like to believe. Let’s seriously work on the sins that so easily beset us so that we might obtain the Kingdom of God (Heb. 12:1).