Journey of the Word

When I scroll through my Facebook feed, I am often compelled to sit and weep. Not because of mass shootings, tragic accidents, or missing persons reports, though these are truly grieving. What strikes me more than all of these are messages, usually implied and not so hidden, which say, “Yes, I know who God is. I know he calls for repentance. I know there is judgment ahead. But I love my sin, and I don’t care.”

My heart hurts as I watch empty souls walk away from grace and pour the remainder of their lives into “having a good time,” knowing that the end is death.

They can’t claim ignorance. They know of their doom, and they know the way out. But they would rather party while they have the chance. Together, they have deceived one another into thinking that the pleasures of this life will outweigh the horrors of the next.

In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine.
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Isa 22:12-13

And their argument is pretty solid. IF the dead are not raised.

Let’s clear this up. The dead are raised. There is a resurrection. And it awaits those who turn from today’s sinful pleasures to hope in the One who offers pleasures forevermore.

If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Do not be deceived; bad company ruins good morals.
Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.
For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
1 Cor 15:32-34

As concerns these people who know and don’t care, I dare say we must peel back the layers of deception and wake them from their mental drunkenness. “You know you’re headed for destruction, and you know the cure, and yet you choose to live for and love the very thing that condemns you in exchange for a fleeting moment of supposed joy? Shame on you! Stop sinning!”

Or maybe we don’t say it like that. But somehow we’ve got to tell them. For tomorrow they die.

 [image credit: blog.blissmo.com, journeyoftheword.com]