October 28
(Psalm 119:126-133 NIV) “It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken. {127} Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, {128} and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path. {129} Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. {130} The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. {131} I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. {132} Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. {133} Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”
(Ezekiel 24:10-14 NIV) “So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred. {11} Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows so its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away. {12} It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire. {13} Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided. {14} I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
(Isaiah 13:6-13 NIV) “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. {7} Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt. {8} Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. {9} See, the day of the Lord is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. {10} The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. {11} I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. {12} I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. {13} Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.”
God is patient, but His patience will eventually come to an end. “There is a time for everything.” God has withheld judgment for many centuries, but a day is coming when He will return to settle accounts. His law has been broken for too long. His grace has been rejected by too many. On that day, the time will have come for Him to act. His efforts at mercy have been frustrated. The evil have rejected His Son and resisted His cleansing fire. He will no longer hold back. Those without the cover of Christ will experience the wrath of God. It’s time for you to act! Call on the name of Jesus. Those who have Christ’s covering are identified by several traits: they love His ways… they stay on His path… they obey His statutes. No sin rules over them. They walk in His light. They love the name of His Son. Will you be among the covered? It’s time to act. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day