Articles
Time To Make The Call
The top rack of our dishwasher which we bought shortly after arriving in northern Ken-tucky about five years ago had a small spot of rust on the top rack which we’ve watched for the past couple of years grow into a large spot. At this point, it has nearly eaten all the way through the metal so that it looks like it is hanging by a thread. Finally, I made the call.
After reading off the serial number, I was abso-lutely delighted to hear the Bosch rep. explain that I still had 7 months left on my 5 year war-ranty, and that that should not have happened to my rack. You don’t understand; these things don’t happen to me. I always seem to find out that my coverage has just lapsed. I was very fortunate!
Imagine if I had waited eight more months to call…. They would have told me, “I’m sorry, but your warranty has expired.” I would have said, “But it’s been rusted for years! I could have called three years ago about this matter,” to which they would have said, “Then why didn’t you?” And, they’d be right to say it.
Life is filled with little instances like this that teach us the importance of not procrastinating. When it comes to matters of the soul, it could mean the difference between being covered by God’s lifetime guarantee or being unprotected.Joel prophesied that in the last days, “...whoever calls on the Lord’s name will be saved” (Acts 2:21). Does it matter when we call?
Consider the following Bible passages which teach this truth:
For one hundred twenty years (Gen. 6:3), God preached through Noah (a preacher of righteousness—2 Peter 2:5) that He was going to de-stroy the earth with a flood. Only eight souls were saved, none of whom were outside of Noah’s family. If there was a moment during which the people momentarily marveled over this new phenomenon known as “rainfall,” it would soon have given way to terror as they re-membered Noah’s warning. They would then be prepared to make the call, but by then it would be too late.
Zechariah 7:8-14—And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ESV
Zechariah called the people to righteousness. His exhortations revolved around treatment of one’s brother: equity, kindness, mercy, and compassion. But Scripture says that they made their hearts “diamond-hard” refusing to hear, stubbornly turning away. Had the people listened to God’s command-ments, then they could have called upon Him and been heard. But, because they refused, God, in like manner, refused to hear them. By the time they were ready to make the call, it was already too late.
Prov 1:20-27 - 20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. 21 She cries out in the chief concourses, At the open-ings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: 22 'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorn-
ing, And fools hate knowledge. 23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regard-ed, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, 27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, NKJV
It should be pointed out that it is “wisdom” and not “God” in particular who is depicted as acting in this text. When sinners reap the consequences of their deeds, does God rejoice? Does He take pleasure in meting out the penalty of sin? Does He laugh and mock when sinners are utterly destroyed? Ezekiel 33:11 says: “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” Wisdom, on the other hand, is a cold, calculat-ed proposition. It is almost like an equation, except for the exceptions pointed out in Ecclesiastes, the grave injustice of life under the sun, that time and chance happen to all. Still, the general rule is, wisdom will be an ornament of grace on one’s head, a crown of glory, and chains about one’s neck (Prov. 1:9; 4:9).
But, her invitation is time sensitive, just like the offer of protection from the gen-erous folks at Bosch. If we do not respond in time, we will lose out on the bless-ing. The question asked in the text (Prov. 1:22) is: “How long…?” How long will we refuse to listen? When will we call on the Lord? How long before we turn from our evil ways?
I wonder how many other calls we’ve been neglecting to make as we run out of time to make them. Are there those who need to make a call for reconciliation (Mt. 5:23-24; 18:15)? Are there any wandering souls needing to hear from you (James 5:19-20)? Are there any widows, fatherless, or poor (as Zechariah men-tioned) who could use a call, especially this time of year? What about a call of encouragement? Do you appreciate the work someone has done? Are you in-spired by someone’s example? Who knows, that timely call might just offset some criticism, discouragement, or self-doubt. What about a call to worship, an invitation to “come and see” what the Lord has done on our behalf. Talk about a call that needs to happen before it’s too late!
