Forever Changed Or Same Me

When you wake up in the morning, friend, what is your first thought? When you go to bed at night, what is your last thought? Are you consumed with the things of this world? Or are you gripped with the reality of another world to come? Are you living your life for this world and its amusements? Or are you living for eternity and its rewards? I ask us these questions today because I know personally what it is like to live only for this world. For years, I was a church member who dutifully served and tied to my church, and I mistakenly believed that was all God required of me, that I could use the rest of my time and the rest of my money to pursue a life of pleasure and happiness. And I did that for years.

I gave God a little of what I had and enjoyed the rest for myself. But then, God in his mercy brought a man into my life who impacted me in a deep spiritual way. And from that point on, my life purpose was altered.

That man was Dr. Stephen Olford. Stephen Olford lived by the motto of C.T. Studd who wrote, Only one life, t'will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

And I chewed on that for a while until I digested it into my inner being and my outward circumstances were forever changed. Only one life, t'will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

You see, friend, when it's your turn to die they bury you six feet underground and your corpse begins to decay. What earthly monuments you leave behind won't stack up to a hill of beans in eternity. You died with a big reputation and a big bank account.

So what? Who will care a thousand years from now? You were a great success in the world and you had a lot of friends and you made your mark on this world and then you left it through death. So what? Listen to me, dear friends, as much as this will hurt some of you I must inform you that God does not sit on the edge of his throne peering down with great anticipation on what sports team wins what sporting event. This world and its rewards are confined to this earth which will one day be rolled up like a dirty carpet and shaken.

Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. You might be the world's greatest procrastinator in what you say you were going to do for God but you never ever get around to doing it.

All you have are excuses. I've known many men through the years who said they were going to do this and do that for God but first they needed more training or they needed more education or more experience or they needed to be more financially secure and debt-free before they could serve God the way they wanted to and that was their main obstacle serving God in the way they wanted to rather than yielding their lives and desires and fears to Christ Jesus the Lord and serving him in the way he wanted them to. A lot of us think that as long as we are continually busy doing church activities that we are giving God our best but have we ever stopped the activity long enough to shut ourselves up with God at our own River K bar and find out from him what he wants us to do with what is left of our life? Only one life which will soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last. Let me ask you, friend. Is your life being lived for you or is it a sacrificial offering unto the glory of God? We live in a day of great apostasy within our denominations.

Some heads of denominations are unconverted men themselves. Truly the blind are leading the blind today. If you haven't found out what God really wants you to do with your life then why don't you go to him in an earnest seeking of his face for his best for you.

The only one in your way is yourself but I fear it is self-preservation which has kept multitudes from experiencing God in a deep intimate way that so transforms their life that they are like Jacob forever changed. Forever changed or the same me. Which will it be for you, friend?