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Refreshment in Refuge
by Gina Burgess
To repent and turn from our wicked ways is the only way we can be fruitful. Solomon comes to my mind here. He was literally hell bound. In 1Kings chapter 11 we find out God talked to Solomon twice about turning from his wicked ways. He did not wholly follow the Lord and His ways and the punishment God had for him was not Hell's Fire... but the punishment was physical. God raised up two enemies against Solomon. Hadad and Rezon. Then God promised to take away the united kingdom of Israel from Solomon's son.
I once thought that Solomon would not be in heaven. I thought because Solomon led the Israelites into idol worship and even worse by building worship places to Molech and Astoreth--the first to sacrifice human babies to and the second for prostitution of children and women--that there was no way God could ever allow Solomon into heaven. How could He? What Solomon did was an abomination!
Of course, that road of thinking leads to works-based salvation and we all know that we are not working to get to Heaven, right? We only get there by grace and mercy from the LORD God Almighty.
Then I read—I mean really read Ecclesiastes 12. Solomon is very old when he writes this book and he writes it as repentance. He tells us that he did investigate everything and it was all in vain. Only the Lord God is worthy. His last words are very telling. "Fear God and obey His commands; there is no more to man than this. For God brings everything we do to judgment, and every secret, whether good or bad."
God's ways are not our ways, and God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Neither shall I ever try to say "this one is saved and that one is not saved." However, I can say, "That person professes Jesus but his actions are far from Christ-like." A person's fruit is testimony to whether the tree (person) is a good tree or a bad tree.
Therefore, I'll throw this on the table: If a person habitually and continuously walks in the darkness while professing to live in the light—is that person a liar, and is not and never was a Christian to begin with? How long do we wait for someone to repent? Perhaps the better question is how long does God wait for us to repent?
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Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.
She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.
If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon
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