December 4-5 – Wasted years

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten....You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you” - Joel 2:25-26

It was still dark, I remember rolling over and turning off the alarm, but the next I knew it was an hour and half later – I was VERY late arriving at church! I got to wondering about the times we all ignore God's alarm calls and run the risk of being late for more than a church service.

If we were to take an inventory of our spiritual growth, beginning at the time of our decision to be baptised, marking off the milestones, I'm sure we will have come across chunks of spiritual wasteland where we had rolled over and turned off the alarm.

Speaking on this aspect of her life, Joni Earekson Tada is recorded as saying, “In my early teens I memorised the words of entire Beatles albums but felt bored with memorising Scripture. I turned down a summer mission trip because I didn't want to be away from my boyfriend Then came my accident in 1967 and more years of spiritual dryness as I sneered at nurses and took out my anger on my family.

Even after I got my act together, I wasted time. For almost a year I let die a habit of prayer. For ages I ignored Bible reading. Worthless years. Futile. Wasted.” For Joni, all alarm calls were totally ignored.

Alarms are going off all over the world – Christ is coming soon – continue to ignore the alarm and we run the very real risk of being too late. He says, “My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done” - Hebrews 10:37

Thinking of my own inventory I am tempted to grieve to think I will never recover or redeem what has been lost as I have ignored God's alarm calls. Then I remember the promise of Joel 2:25 The Lord promises that losses shall be repaired – He will make good the damage I have done. God vows He will restore our loss.

Today's music is sung by an SDA group - Inner Missions – The Lord is Coming (Are you ready?)