in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1Corinthians 15:52
Change can come quickly. This was true for the children of Israel, when the Lord set them free from the bondage in Egypt it was sudden. It was so sudden that there was no time for the everyday things. They had to make their bread in a hurry.
You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 16:3)
In this life we are not usually able to know when opportunities for change will occur.
Israel had been crying out to the Lord in prayer for an end to suffering. Their enslavement had been cruel and unjust, their taskmasters had been driving them hard to build the great cities in Egypt that were a tribute to Pharaoh. The children of Israel, the grandson of Abraham who had rejected idol worship, were being forced to build cities of great idols.
Then there were the children.
In their fear, the Egyptians had decided to kill the first born children of Israel. The heartbreak and anguish was more than they could bear and so their cry was heard in heaven and the Lord was moved to act.
The Lord recalled the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It is no small thing for the Lord to directly intervene in the lives of men, when He does act in this way it is life altering. Things begin to happen at break neck speed, choices must be made and action taken in the twinkling of an eye, in the beat of a heart.
This is true for repentance.
When the Lord comes knocking on the door of our heart, we must choose. Choose to answer the door, choose to let Him come in and have fellowship with us. We must choose to change direction and walk with Him instead of on our own. We must choose in an instant to change the direction of our life at His invitation or continue the way we have walked for so long.
That is what happened to the children of Israel. The Lord arrived on the scene turned their world upside down, He challenged them to leave in a hurry to join Him or remain behind in a world that wanted to kill them.
The same is true for us. Will we choose the Lord and His way of life or will we remain joined to this world that only wants to enslave and kill us?
Choose now, but choose quickly.
