Before It's Too Late

“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.”

(2 Corinthians 6:1-2 ESV)

            It’s so easy to take for granted the many blessings we enjoy every day.  It’s easy for us to take our freedom for granted.  It’s easy for us to take our family for granted.  It’s easy for us to take our job, our home, and our wealth for granted.

            We do this because these blessings have always been there for us.  We’ve never been without them.  And, because of this, we seem to think that they always will.

            We often do the same thing when it comes to God.  More specifically, we do the same thing when it comes to his salvation.  We understand the love he has for us.  We know the sacrifice he’s made for us.  We know his desire for our salvation.  And, for this reason, we take it for granted.  We just assume that his salvation will always be available to us.

            Many people approach life thinking that they can turn to God later on.  They want to enjoy themselves now.  They want to satisfy their sinful desires.  And they think that they have plenty of time to confess to God and receive his mercy.

            Many people simply believe that, because God is loving, and because he desires their salvation, it doesn’t matter what they do.  No matter the life that they live, they believe that God will forgive them.  No matter how great their rebellion, they believe that God will save them.

            However, as we see in the above text, salvation is not something we can take for granted.  In this passage, Paul urged that the Corinthians would not receive God’s grace in vain.  He didn’t want them to receive it in an empty or meaningless way.  He didn’t want them to take it lightly. 

            He also makes it clear that God’s salvation will not be available forever.  He tells us that now is the favorable time.  He tells us that now is the day of salvation.

            We all realize that, as far as our life in this world is concerned, tomorrow isn’t promised to us. A sudden accident could take our life.  We could suffer a heart attack or go into cardiac arrest.  We could be unexpectedly diagnosed with a serious illness that brings our life in this world to an end.

            We also know from Scripture that Jesus will soon return.  We don’t know when that day will come.  But it could come at any moment.  And, for this reason, we must be prepared.

            We must make sure that we are not treating God’s grace lightly.  We must make sure that we receive his mercy while we still can.  We must make sure that we receive God’s mercy through faith in Christ before the day of grace comes to an end.

            This passage also speaks to us in another way.  As we share in God’s call to make disciples of all nations, like Paul, we are ambassadors for Christ.  And this passage reminds us of the urgency of that mission.

            We often allow the demands of our day to day life to interfere with this call.  We allow our job, our chores at home, or even our recreational activities to get in the way of our ministry.  We allow these things to overshadow every opportunity we have to reach out to others.

We must not allow this to happen.  We must remember that, because the day of grace will one day come to an end, we must reach out to others before it’s too late.  We must reach out to them with the life changing message of the gospel, providing them with the opportunity to look to Jesus in faith, while it’s still the day of salvation.