August 1st – Proverbs 1: The Point of No Return

“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.” – Proverbs 1:28

Wow. At what point does the Savior of the world and the God of grace and mercy turn his ear from our cries for help? At what point does He hide Himself from us and suddenly become impossible to find? Well, one thing is for sure, this didn’t happen overnight. This was a long and arduous process. Most likely months and years have passed.

The Bible tells us:

“But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,” – Proverbs 1:24,25

God calls to people all the time. He calls them out of deception and out of wickedness into the truth and into the light, yet many REJECT His call! God stretches out His hand to help and many just bat it away. He extends Himself on our behalf to bring healing, light and mercy, but so many pay no attention and give no heed. God speaks to us out of His word and through His people, offering His advice and counsel on our situation, but sadly He is ignored. When His call, His hand and His advice are spurned, He then turns to a loving rebuke by a loving Father. He chastises and corrects us, many times through difficult circumstances.

In Hebrews it tells us:

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” – Hebrews 12:7

But even then, as God chastises and rebukes us, many STILL will not accept it. The result is SCARY.

“I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.” Proverbs 1:26-28

God is a patient, loving Father. But there is such thing as a point of no return. There is a place where we’ve gone too far to turn back. In this age of the popular deception, “once saved, always saved” many think that it’s an impossibility to lose their salvation or for their lives to be in danger of the fires of Hell. But wake up, the Bible is FULL or warnings just like this.

LIFE LESSON:

We need to accept His call, reach for His hand, heed His advice and accept His rebukes.