One Lord's Day evening a young man visited a preacher of the gospel. His first words were: "I have come in answer to the invitation you generally give to your listeners at the close of your addresses:... to visit you, if anyone wishes to know more about such matters."
"I am very pleased that you came," was the friendly answer. "Please be seated."
"I really don't know," continued the young man, "what to say to you. The one thought on my mind that has driven me to you is that I have neglected religion long enough. I have therefore decided to put it off no longer."
"A good resolution," said the preacher, "for God's Word says: 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' "
"I don't think that text is suitable for me, because..." "It is just suitable to your case."
"I wanted to say," interrupted the young man, "that I am not yet advanced enough to have this text applied to me."
"But you told me that you had decided not to put it off any longer. That is why I answered, 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' "
"Certainly; but I must not set about this in too great haste."
"You just must hasten, my friend! The angels of the Lord commanded Lot to hasten, and as quickly as possible to flee from Sodom. As judgment once broke loose over Sodom, so will God's judgment fall on this world some day. It may be SOON. Therefore 'God... now commandeth all men every where to repent.' “Acts 17:3030And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30).
"But I don't think I am in a proper condition to become a Christian."
"You think then," continued the preacher, "that disobeying God's Word will bring you into a better condition?"
"Well, not exactly; but I am not deeply enough convinced of my sins. I know that I am a sinner, and that I ought to be otherwise; and I really am quite decided to turn to God."
"Now then, do it! 'Behold, now is the accepted time.'" "But my heart is still so hard and indifferent. I feel even a dislike to God, such as I have never felt before." "Repent then, and confess to God the indifference and enmity of your heart. And do it today!"
The youth looked thoughtfully before him for a moment, and then said, "I would willingly go to God, but I am not yet prepared for it."
"Are you then more prepared today than you were last Lord's Day?"
"No, I am not an inch further. I even think that I am much less prepared than I was at the moment I decided to become a Christian."
"In any case you have not come nearer to God," replied the preacher; "and the reason is this: you do not believe that now is the accepted time."
"I do believe it, for the Bible says it; but I do not feel my sins deeply enough," answered the youth with a sigh. "Then is it not yet the accepted time?"
"I have not faith enough."
"Then is it not yet the day of salvation?"
"But I—I—I am not yet enough prepared."
"Then God has made a mistake, for He said: 'NOW is the accepted time.' "
The young man jumped up and cried out anxiously, "What must I do then?"
"Acknowledge your sins to God, and believe on the Savior that He has sent to save such as you an enemy, a hateful and careless sinner and don't wait any longer. Come to Him today! Today is the day of salvation; today is God's time, not tomorrow. You told me that you had decided not to put it off any longer, and you doubtless believed that you were in earnest. However, your whole conduct proves that you will not come to Jesus today, but have made up your mind to wait `for a more convenient season.' But let me warn you, my friend! A more convenient season never comes. NOW is the accepted time."
"It is cruel of you to drive me into a corner like this."
"If you were lying on a sick-bed," replied the preacher, "and if you knew that you were near death, you would not speak so. On the contrary, you would hear with joy that God's Word says: 'Behold now is the accepted time.' If God demanded a time of preparation say—a week, or a month—you would have reason to be alarmed. It is grace, undeserved grace, when He says to you: 'Behold, now is the day of salvation.' For you know not if you will be alive tomorrow."
For a long time the young man stared straight before him. At last he said with a troubled voice, "Will you pray with me?"
The preacher granted this request with joy; and when the young man was leaving, he repeated to him very earnestly, " 'Behold, now is the accepted time.' "
A week passed. Lord's day evening the young man knocked again at the preacher's door and entered. But his face wore quite a different expression! With a joyous smile he took the preacher's hand and said, "NOW I am happy. I have given my heart to Christ as my Savior and am reconciled to God.
"Last Sunday I was dissatisfied with you. I thought you were cruel to keep hammering me with the same text. But what a good thing that you did! Through God's grace it has been the means of saving my soul.
"I could not forget that text. It went everywhere with me. 'Wherever I was, I heard in my ears, 'NOW is the accepted time!' It went on so for three days. I tried to forget the words and to think of something else; but it was impossible.
"Finally I got a Bible; but wherever I read, that wonderful text seemed to cover the rest in large letters. I didn't know what to do.
"Then I asked myself why these words troubled me so. And what was my conclusion? I discovered that I was unwilling to be saved by the Lord Jesus. I had thought that my decision not to put it off any longer was real; but God showed me otherwise. I wanted, just as you said, to wait for a 'more convenient season.' I wanted the world a little longer. I did not want to separate from my worldly friends.
"On the other hand, I wanted to merit salvation. I wanted to do something for God, to pray more, to read more in His Word, to 'become religious.' But I did not want to go to the Lord Jesus as a lost sinner.
"God be praised that He did not abandon me! Through His Word I began to see myself as He saw me— a lost, guilty, Christ-rejecting sinner—and I took my place with those who 'have sinned and come short of the glory of God.' What a burden was mine! I saw myself indifferent to the claims of an outraged God, an enemy to His Son given in grace to die for my sins, and totally unworthy of the least of His good gifts. I could only cry, `God be merciful to me a sinner.'
"Praise His Name! The light of His love entered my soul. I came to Jesus as I was and—I found rest and peace. I had not wanted grace; but oh, how glad I was when I found that God's grace to me, the rebel sinner, had done everything! To Him be praise and thanksgiving for ever and ever!"
My reader, how is it with you? Do you wish you were saved? Then come to Jesus NOW. Prove the reality of your desire by believing Him, for He says: