Day 1949 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Acts 17:30 NIV

Started off on this one yesterday, but it's just one of those seriously important topics that I think needs an extra post. As I said yesterday, God's not going to listen to excuses or let us get by with our messed up ways anymore. Our society has completely ditched the idea of personal responsibility. We loathe having to own up to our mistakes. So we ignore them. But that's just not gonna cut it whenever Christ comes back.

I think one of the biggest hurdles is that we take His forgiveness for granted. We've went and got it in our minds that He will forgive us no matter what we do. That's not really how this Gospel thing is supposed to work. It's not some magical thought that we pull out so we don't have to feel guilty. It's not this freedom to do anything we want to do without any possible consequences or repercussions.

Contrary to popular thought, life doesn't work that way. And you better believe that God doesn't work that way. He's not just going to keep turning His head while we go on being ignorant. He's won't turn a blind eye to our willful sins anymore. We need to understand just how serious this all is. It's not a game. It's not okay. It's not all fun and exciting. It's not cool. It's deadly. And as we discussed in yesterday's post, if we don't fix it, it will lead to an eternity of punishment.

Again, this whole thing about avoiding responsibility is pure nonsense. Nobody else forces us to make the choices we make. They might try. But they can't force us to do anything unless we willingly go along with it. So sin doesn't force us to be sinners. It's a choice. It's a weakness. It is a problem. And folks, if you didn't already know, problems have consequences. There's just no getting out of that fact.

Truth is that our sins carry the ultimate consequence imaginable. Death. Eternal, miserable, horrifying death. But that doesn't have to be our destination. Christ took that punishment for us so that we could all learn just how real and how big of a problem sin is. So now that we know better, we're completely responsible for that knowledge. It's now on us to do better going forward.

That's the message of this verse. In the past, He understood that we messed up without knowing the error in our ways. He understands that we all have weaknesses and struggles. But we can't claim ignorance anymore. We can't pretend that we don't know better. We do. And so we have the responsibility to change. If we don't leave our messed up and sinful ways behind, then they will destroy us.

Please don't let that happen. Change and growth can be hard. But if they keep you from an eternity of misery, then they're clearly worth it. Get right with Him. Accept the responsibility that comes with life and faith. After all, your life is on the line here. It's impossible to be any more important than this. Don't let sin pull you down when you have the key to freedom, peace, and an eternity of rest.