Turn Around!

We've had just a tremendous amount of rain in central Iowa this past couple of weeks. So much so, that along with weather alerts from the weather app on my smart phone, I've also been getting flood warnings multiple times a day. On the radio, we been hearing that little jingle from the National Weather Service, "Turn Around Don't Drown", as a reminder to take areas of flooded rivers, or other flood waters, seriously. But despite the many warnings, some people refuse to take heed.

This morning, Mary read an article from the local newspaper about a man who had to be rescued from the Iowa river last night, after his car was swept away as he attempted to drive through a closed section of flooded roadway. According to the article, the man had driven through two "ROAD CLOSED" signs into 6-inches of water, tried to turn around when his car began to fill with water, and was swept into the river. The rescue personnel included three fire departments, the Tama sheriff's office, the Poweshiek County Sheriff's office, Tama Ambulance, and the Iowa State Patrol. The man survived by jumping from the car and hanging onto a couple of trees, and had to be rescued by boat, with the three of the rescue personnel linking arms in order to reach him.

I used this as a springboard to the gospel down at the Farmers Market in Des Moines this morning, because it is so fitting. Click HERE for the audio.

The guy who nearly drowned will have his day in court, and will have to face the judge and give an account for what he did. According to the State Trooper in the article, this man not only endangered himself, but the many people who were involved in his rescue. You know, he will be without excuse on that day...I mean, he drove around the warning signs! He's going to pay a HEFTY fine, and that's not counting the fact that his car is still in the river, and will remain there until the flood waters recede.

And like that man, all of us have "driven around" God's warning signs regarding the imminent danger we are in because of our sins against a Holy God. Our conscience has warned us again and again and again, until we've hardened our hearts to the point that our conscience is reduced to the background noise of an annoying jingle on the radio.

The concept of the fear of the LORD has been replaced by:
... the Seeker-Sensitive "god" (think Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Joel Olsteen) who is accepting and warm and fuzzy, and who wants you to have your best life now. Or
... the Emergent "god"(think Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Dan Kimball) who doesn't want you to get bogged down with boring (zzzzz) doctrine or Bible reading; where experience trumps understanding, "love wins", and everyone goes to Heaven...even the Devil. Or
... the Contemplative "god" of the New Age (think Tilden Edwards, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Helen Schucman, Oprah Winfrey, Shirley McClain, Leonard Sweet) which teaches that we really are all "god", and that Jesus Christ didn't come to reveal his divinity, but to show us we are all divine. The "god" who mocks the thought of a dead Christ, or that it is a mistake to cling to the old rugged cross.

My, my, with all this being offered to humanity, the Biblical concepts of the surety of Judgment Day and the fearful reality of an eternal Hell have been so watered down, they look like nothing more than 6-inches of water across the road ahead...hardly anything to be worried about!

Galatians 6:7-8 
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

God has given us ten clear warning signs in his moral law, the Ten Commandments, yet we just drive around them in order to go our own way, do our own thing, be our own god, in rebellion to the Almighty God who created us, and who deserves our love and worship. The one true God who desires for us to be reconciled to him. Out of love, God calls us to repent - to turn around - to turn to Him in humility and surrender, and look to the only One who can rescue us from the consequences of our sin: the Lord Jesus Christ, mighty to save! All the rescue personnel and equipment in the world cannot deliver us from the judgment of God, but the Lord Jesus Christ jumped into the deadly waters of iniquity and took upon Himself the penalty of our sin, "the just for the unjust", that he might bring us to God. Jesus Christ gave his all, to the laying down of his life, shedding his blood to make atonement for us, that we might be justified, not by our good works, our religious acts or efforts, but by the righteousness that God gives freely to all who will repent and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

Have you heeded the warning? If not, will you repent? Will you "turn around" and look to the Lord Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection to rescue you from the coming floodwaters of the judgment of God? Unless you repent, you will perish...Look to Jesus Christ, O sinner, and live!