12/05/2026
Ignore this safety rule at your own peril. It affects your eternal life.
Thanks, Paul Crook for your timely warning.
What are some of the safety rules you learnt as a child? Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t run with scissors. Don’t play with matches. Look both ways before crossing the road.
Matthew 4 verse 17. “From that time on, Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” That is a safety message that no one should ignore.
I have a question for you. You are walking down the street and your thinking of what the day holds for you. You step off the footpath onto the road and someone shouts, “watch out, there’s a car coming”. You leap back onto the footpath. In all probability, that person saved your life and so you thank them sincerely.
Jesus preached, and what He preached is like that shouted warning that saved your life. That warning on the road was real and immediate. You can see cars hurtling past and no person in their right mind would step out in that road, because we know and see the danger. Yet when Jesus calls out to us to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near, do we leap back to safety and keep ourselves safe? Do we truly repent? Do we take that God given opportunity? It’s like a child saying sorry for doing something wrong, then shortly after, does the same thing again.
We might council that child by explaining that if they were sorry, they would not have repeated that wrong doing, therefore, we can’t believe they were truly sorry. With a child, any punishment would be given at that time, but God isn’t going you have you sit in your bedroom and think about what you have done, although you should.
We don’t see any impending doom, even though the news is full of war and turmoil, and we may feel insecure over the world events, but that’s on the other side of the world. We know we must repent and we cannot tell when Jesus will come again, but think about it….. we have a limited time on this earth and we don’t know when our time is to be up. Jesus is preaching about YOUR repentance, not the collective world-wide repentance at Armageddon. Many people think about this in the terms of the end of the world, but Jesus wants you to think about it in the terms of your opportunity to repent now. We are only human and we succumb to temptation, so repentance is an ongoing exercise – I know it is for me.
We don’t see the effects of non-repentance at the time. But rest assured refusing repentance has consequences. It is like cancer that hasn’t shown symptoms yet. Accumulation of guilt, separation from God, hardening of your heart born decisions and lost opportunities. There may also be real life issues, such as broken relationships and a sense of being alone in life.
Taking the opportunity to repent before Jesus Christ, tears down those barriers we have built around us that prevent us from ever reaching the Kingdom of Heaven, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Let us all then, turn to silent contemplation and prayer. Have an earnest conversation with your Saviour and ask for forgiveness. Jesus will give it with care and love.
Have a great week and God bless.
Paul Crook
