Gone Too Far - Martin Wiles

It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again.  Hebrews 6:6 NLT

Christmas season had arrived. My wife and I were living almost three hours away from our families but were eagerly anticipating the drive home to frolic with family and friends. Since my wife had been an avid shopper that season, the presents soon overtook our luggage. We opened presents at my family’s home first, and then it was off to my in-law’s to repeat the process. As we did, my wife noticed that her nephew and niece had no gifts from us. She had bought an entire box full, but where were they? “Did you get the box from the top of the closet,” she asked. I hadn’t, but we had gone too far to go back and retrieve them.  

At some point, too far is too far. This hotly debated verse has witnessed several interpretations. Among them that the writer was warning against apostasy, that the listeners weren’t true believers, that the listeners were superficial believers, or that he was merely posing a hypothetical scenario. Regardless of what it could mean, a scarlet thread runs through all the possibilities: unbelief. 

Unbelief is dangerous and has the potential to take me beyond the too-far point. When God gives more privileges, more responsibilities follow. Those who’ve heard the gospel but don’t respond will be held to a greater level of accountability than those who’ve never heard. Since God doesn’t give second chances after death, it’s essential that I make necessary decisions now—deciding to trust Christ being the most important. When I continue to ignore God’s call to salvation, my heart hardens. Hearing demands action and my actions demonstrate I’ve heard. 

The good news is that as long as we’re alive and in our right minds, we haven’t gone too far. We can respond to God’s call—most importantly to the call to salvation but also to various areas of service. 

No matter how far you are, God allows turn arounds. 

Prayer: Father, may we avoid the too-far points by responding quickly to Your summons. 
(Photo courtesy of morguefile and earl53.)

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