When I was a child, and again when my children were small, we loved playing a game called “Hide-and-Seek”. It is probably a game that is played by children all over the world in one form or another. The basic game as we played it went like this:
One person who is “It” stays put, closes their eyes, and counts to a predetermined number (my personal favorite was counting to one hundred by fives) that was sufficient to give the other players time to find a hiding place. “It” could not move or peek while they were counting. As soon as “It” reached the end of counting, time was up for finding a hiding place. “It” would call out with a loud voice, “Ready or not here I come!”
I can remember trying to find a hiding place and hearing myself running out of time. Urgency would turn instantly to panic if I was not hidden when those final words echoed through the playing field. Often I and others as well would dive for cover only to leave a portion of ourselves exposed. The person scrambling at the end was usually the first person found and lost the game, thereby becoming “It” for the next game.
I see a much more serious game playing out today with awesome consequences. A day of judgment is coming on the earth, a day when the Lord will call an end to all things, a day when he will separate the wicked from the just. For now though, there is still time. II Peter 3:9-10 declares, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise … but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;”
Signs of the times are all around us indicating the end is very near. Hide your sins in Jesus Christ through repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ before it is too late. Before long he will cry out, “READY OR NOT HERE I COME!” Don’t wait too late.
God Bless and Have a Great Week!