“If God is trying to tell me something, a letter would be nice.”
That’s what Brian said after the soccer game, because he was really shaken up that day and seemed ready to listen to God.
What does it take to make a person ready to listen to God? If you have ears to hear, then listen right now, for God has already spoken to you in the Bible, and He also instructs, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:1515He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)). God wants to get your attention, just as He wanted Brian’s attention.
Brian was goalie for his team. It wasn’t the best kind of day for a soccer game; the whole field was a soggy mess. It had been raining earlier in the day, and the sky was looking black again. Suddenly a vivid flash of lightning split the sky, and something happened that Brian will remember as long as he lives.
“The St. Regis team was coming down on me,” he reported, “and suddenly I felt the hum of electricity all around me. Then the ball was just rolling along by itself and everybody was down.”
Twenty-one players, plus the referee, had dropped in their tracks. Only Brian remained standing. “I just stood there, looking over the field at all the bodies. It was a weird feeling.”
Something so unusual feels like a message from God, and Brian was not mistaken. The truth is that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). Don’t wait until you are in a field full of fallen friends. You might very well be one of them. NOW is the time to listen to God.
One by one the fallen players began to stir and get up on their feet. All but the referee. He remained down. The paramedics were called, but it was too late to restore his breathing. He was pronounced dead.
The news reporter asked Brian how he felt about it. He recalled his close brush with death in a car accident a short time before, and he made the comment we have already mentioned—”If God wants to tell me something, a letter would be nice.”
But, Brian, God has already written a letter! He has cared for His wonderful letter through fire and storm for thousands of years, and there are more copies printed every day. Read the Bible. Find out that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). Find out that if you believe in the Son you have everlasting life. The message could not be simpler, and it is repeated over and over. Read John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), John 6:4747Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47), and Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) for starters.
What will it take to make you ready to listen? Perhaps your own death will be the message that will make you listen and remember the warning of this story. But then it will be too late to receive God’s loving gift. Hell is an awful reality.
Are you listening right now? God loves you. He wants you to accept the gift of everlasting life from His Son, Jesus Christ. He died on Calvary’s cross for the sins of those who will come to Him for forgiveness. Will you come right now so God doesn’t have to speak louder?
ML-08/23/2009