You're Taking Quite A Chance

I did some thinking today about people who take "chances". Chances on the highway, chances in the lottery, chances in the use of drugs! It's a risky business!

And then it occurred to me, that some of us are taking an awful chance with God. Some church members haven't taken Communion for quite awhile...I wonder if the Lord has noticed? Some folks just sleep in on Sunday mornings...too tired (they claim)...I wonder if the Lord cares? Some folks haven't assumed their church responsibilities for quite awhile...I wonder what the Lord has written on their golden ledger books?

By what line of reasoning do we assume that we can stay away from worship, forget our prayer life, let someone else carry the load, and believe that God isn't going to hold us responsible?

This week, we received a catalog, with a letter stapled to the front. It said, "this may be the last catalog I can send you, unless you place an order."

What if this was the last worship service we could attend before the end of the world? What if the Lord held no promise of mercy for us, if we missed another Communion service? What if our church would no longer be available to us, when we got sick, or needed a funeral, or counseling from our pastor?

What if God invited us all to a party, and nobody came? You're right...God is inviting us all to come to His service of worship this week, and all through the year. Will we say "yes" or "no"?

The letter with the catalog, had this additional word, "I wanted to make sure that not one customer missed out on all the good things in this catalog..."

And that's the message of the Church...we just want to make sure that not one member or friend misses out on the good news of the Gospel. But don't take chances with the Eternal...you can miss some T.V....you can miss some basketball and hockey...you can miss a little sleep...but don't miss the invitation of the Lord of Hosts!