17.) Your Lease on Life Will Expire

By:  Rev. Oliver W. Price

 

Your lease on life will expire. That's one thing nearly everybody agrees on. Obviously, the life you have now cannot go on forever.

 

Actually, I don't know anyone who would want life to drag out forever and ever in its present state. So it is just as well that life is winding down. But where will you go from here?

 

What happens when your lease on life expires? You'll have to settle accounts with the God who made you.

 

The Bible says the way to "settle accounts" is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But many people are skeptical. It sounds too simple—too easy.

 

Faith has gotten a bad reputation. It sounds like a "cop-out." It looks like an easy way to escape when reality is too tough to handle. And some people have tried to use it like a magic wishing well to get whatever they want. Such faith is phony.

 

But real faith is different. Real faith is believing the truth even when it hurts. It is believing in the God who made you, who owns and controls all things, who gives you your breath. He is more necessary than air;

for in Him, we live, and move and have our being."  (Acts 17:25)

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He can cancel your lease on life any time He chooses. And eventually He must do so,

for the wages of sin is death."  (Romans 6:23)

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This is the God who is revealed in the Bible. He is the One with whom you must deal every day. And in the end you must come to terms with Him. Now notice how faith comes to terms with God.

 

Faith has two elements. First, it is believing that Almighty God does exist. However, this alone does not give you a new lease on life. Even the devil is convinced that there is a God. But he does not trust the Almighty.

 

Personal trust is the second element of faith. Man's personal trust in God was broken when he believed a lie about God. He was led to doubt God's motives in withholding the forbidden fruit. With that, personal trust was gone.

 

A five-year-old runs away from home because he is mad at his parents. They love him and they know he cannot survive without them. So they search for him and try to convince him of their love so he will return to their heart as well as their home. God is like that. 

 

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

(John 3:16)

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The sacrifice of Christ proves God's love for you. His death also paid the penalty levied against you for rebelling against God. God is free now to welcome you home. Convinced of His love, you should turn to Him and give Him your personal trust.

 

Personal trust opens your life to a new relationship with God. It puts your case in His hands. It opens your heart to receive His grace and a new lease on life. Faith changes your attitude toward God's authority. Faith reconciles the rebelling child to his heavenly Father.

 

God enjoys sharing life with His children. You discover that you are now facing life together with God. And together you can cope with anything.

 

In partnership with God, life takes on new meaning. It becomes the kind of life you would enjoy living forever. And, since the new lease is based on His never-ending love, it will never expire.

 

You don't know when your old lease on life will be up. But you can sign the new lease by turning to God and personally inviting Jesus Christ into your life right now.

 

The Bible promises, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."

(John 1:12)