When I was a teenager, one of my older brothers was living with us, and he had a Siamese cat. This cat, like many Siamese, was cross-eyed, and we realized he was seeing two of everything. When he would walk into the living room and glance over at the sliding glass door, he would see two Siamese cats that looked just like him staring back. These cats would mirror his every move and growl. He would eventually attack, only to be turned back by the window. It was great entertainment! The cat got a superiority complex, which I am sure was because he stared down two cats on a daily basis and was never harmed.

But that brings up a question for us to consider. Are you cross-eyed. I am not talking about seeing double all the time and attacking sliding glass doors. What I am talking about is what the writer of Hebrews expressed in

Hebrews 12:2 –
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Do we live a life that is focused and Jesus and His sacrifice for us? When we remember our sins, are we taking them (and leaving them) at the foot of the cross? If we are not “cross-eyed” then we will be haunted by the guilt of the past and never know peace in our lives.

and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20)

It is also impossible to rein in our foolish pride if we are not “cross-eyed”. The cross shows us what our sinful actions and attitudes deserve. Knowing that every one of us is guilty before God of capital crimes, no matter how righteous we appear relative to others, leaves no room for boasting. All we have left to boast of is the magnitude of Christ’s love for us.

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)

Perhaps being “cross-eyed” doesn’t make any sense to you. After all, the cross was a cruel instrument of torture, and was used to inflict a horrific death upon any who were placed upon it. You were considered accursed if you were crucified. Even in the times before it was invented, those who were hung on a tree were considered cursed by God.

“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” (Leviticus 21:22)

It just doesn’t make sense to those who are outside of Christ why we would worship someone who was cursed! At first glance such a proposition looks foolish indeed. The Apostle Paul said that many would feel this way, even in the First Century.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

But in order to take our curse upon Himself and atone for our sins, Jesus had to die the death of a cursed man, so we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What did this accomplish? Glad you asked!

1 Peter 2:24-25 (NKJV)
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

So let us fix our eyes on Jesus and follow after Him. We must be “cross-eyed”, just like He was. As we follow Him to the cross on a daily basis, we are reconciled, renewed, and refocused. For on our daily cross, we must crucify our old nature with its sinful desires, and walk as He walked. I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but people tend to walk in the direction they are looking. So let us be “cross-eyed” and crucified as we journey to heaven. And I think that is one of the reasons for observing The Lord’s Supper and doing so often. It helps to keep us cross-eyed. It is so effective at doing so that it baffles me that some churches do not participate in this every week. We are human and constantly need reminders to keep ourselves focused on what is important. Communing with other believers around the Table of The Lord is designed by God for that very purpose. And in doing so we are reminded that we, too, need to daily take up our cross as we are crucified with Him.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Sometimes, when I am busy with selecting songs to use for Sunday worship, it seems like the Spirit puts a song in my mind on a continuous loop and won’t let it stop. Such was the case when preparing this week. It was an old hymn that was born in adversity and distills truth down to a brief, poignant phrase. The song was written by Frances Havergal in the 19th century. Frances only lived to be 42 and was in poor health most of her brief life. Notwithstanding, she wrote some of my favorite hymns, with lyrics that go directly to the heart.

One such hymn, the one on continuous loop in my head, was titled “Take My Life And Let It Be”. In her diary, Frances said that on one evening after prayer when she was pledging her devotion to her Savior, a phrase came to her mind and would not depart — ever, only, all. She included the phrase into a poem she wrote the next day which ends with “take my self and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.” There are less poetic ways to say the same thing, and I think what she was trying trying to communicate was that as a disciple of Jesus Christ, our desire should be to live as one who is perpetually (ever), exclusively (only), and completely (all) devoted (for) to Jesus (Thee).

This is a goal worthy of our greatest focus, for He is a Savior worthy of our greatest love. This aspiration is one that will keep us focused on He who is the Author and finisher of our faith”. And this devotion, this consecration, is not an unreasonable thing to ask of His disciples. After all, this is the same God who will do “exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think”. Surely that kind of a king is worthy of perpetual exclusive and complete worship and adoration.

I would encourage you to look at the words of this hymn and make them your prayer while taking communion. He gave his all, and continues to give His all for us, his children. Can we do less than give our all to Him?

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold:
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Words: Frances R. Havergal 1874.

Much of the time, textual critics will sit and debate who the authors were of various parts of the Bible. What I want to offer some thoughts on in this case is the question of who Peter was writing to in his first letter. It may not be obvious at first glance, depending on which translation you are using. Here is what I mean.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (I Peter 1:1 NKJV)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1 NIV)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1 ASV)
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (1 Peter 1:1 ESV)

Do you see why there might be some confusion on the matter of who this letter is addressed to? But we need not just give it our best guess. There is evidence in the rest of the Bible to aid in our understanding.

The differences in translation are attributed to translators’ assumptions about the text. There is the school of thought that says Peter must be addressing Jewish Christians who were the remnant that had been saved through accepting their promised messiah, Jesus. Plus, Peter had agreed with Paul that he would go to the Jews, while Paul would go to the Gentiles. But this was never a hard and fast rule, as Paul still would go and start teaching in the synagogues when he entered a new city. In addition, as far as we can tell, the places this letter was to go are all churches stared by Paul on his missionary journeys. In fact, Paul wrote a letter to one of these places, Galatia, and gave clues that would indicate that the Galatians weren’t Jews at all!

Galatians 2:8
8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),

Galatians 4:8–9
Fears for the Church
8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Galatians 6:13
13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

But, many will say, doesn’t Peter refer to this group as the “diaspora” here? That could only apply to the Jewish people. But we must remember that when the Christians were grafted into the olive tree of the Jewish nation, not only did Jewish believers gain the benefits of being Christians, but gentile believers gained the benefits of the Jewish tree into which we were joined. The Apostle Paul, in the letter to the church at Ephesus puts it this way. This is a little long, but wonderfully makes the point.

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV)

He puts it even more succinctly in Galatians 3:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28, 29 ESV)

But what of the term “diaspora”? It originally was a word used to describe the Israelites who had been scattered abroad and were no longer in Israel. But here in 1 Peter it has a double meaning. In Acts 8:1-4, Luke wrote that persecution had caused the church to be scattered abroad instead of being concentrated in Jerusalem. They had been dispersed as a new diaspora and were obeying Christ’s command to go unto all nations. So while the terms “chosen” and “royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” were originally applied to Israel, they now applied to Israel along with those of us along for the life who God had grafted in.

So is there a place in the plan of God for national/physical Israel? You bet there is. But they will be equal members of the Kingdom of God, for He has not utterly cast them off. So when you read letters like First Peter, know that it was addressed to Christians like all of us, both Jew and Gentile alike. We have been grafted in together to form one nation under God.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9, 10 ESV)

Jews had been a chosen people, had a royal priesthood, were Holy and set apart for God as His possession. This verse must be talking about us as Gentiles now precisely because it says those he is addressing had not been God’s chosen people in the past, but now had become such. That cannot be referring to the House of Israel because the were already called those things! Fellow Gentile believer, First Peter was written for all of us!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 790 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 13 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

On this beautiful Christmas morning, I wish to address the issue of holidays. There are some who feel that we are not authorized to have holidays, and by this I mean days that are holy in a religious sense. Therefore, they reason that Christians are actually sinning, or at least in error, if the celebrate such with religious meaning attached.

What we need to do, as in most cases, is to define our terms. By “holy” we mean that something or someone is “set apart for service to God”. So by naming something as a holiday, we are setting that day apart for reflection, remembrance and celebration. So what do the Scriptures say about setting days apart for religious observance? Glad you asked, because the Apostle Paul gives us a very direct answer in Romans chapter 14. I have included six verse for the sake of context.

“Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:1-6 NET)

Of particular note are verses 5 and 6 regarding holy days. According to Paul, while under divine inspiration, there is nothing wrong at all with setting aside a day as holy. Neither is there anything wrong or sinful about NOT setting a day or days aside. Let each be convinced in his or her own mind about it.

But I do have a question for consideration by those who would still say we should not have any holy days in spite of Romans 14:5-6. Many of them celebrate other days like Independence Day and Memorial Day, etc. What does it say to those who may be observing your conduct when you are willing to set aside days to celebrate national secular events, but are not willing to do the same for events in the life of our Lord? Do you celebrate your birthday and those of your family members? I realize we do not have the exact date for the birth of Christ, but do we celebrate everyone’s birthday and not the birth of our Savior? Just so ring to think about.

Again, let each be convinced in his own mind and not judge the conclusions of a brother as inferior to our own. We live unto The Lord and answer to Him for only ourselves. I, for one, will celebrate the Incarnation and the day “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14. If I can celebrate American independence on the 4th of July, I can definitely celebrate the coming of the One who sets us free eternally. Let us begin the Incarnation Celebration!

The Word of God is replete with commands to worship God. In the Ten Commandments ( the actual Law, not the movie), a command is given to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. That day, from creation onward, was set aside as God’s special day which was reserved for worship. Now, under the covenant sealed with the blood of Christ upon the cross, we are in a kind of perpetual Sabbath. We no longer follow the Sabbath, which was a shadow of things to come, but follow Christ.

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Colossians 2:16, 17 NKJV)”

We have ceased from our own works and and now spending every day doing His works, which is the very reason we are saved.

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:9, 10 NKJV)”

Well that is great and all, but it does bring up a question. When do we worship? Glad you asked?

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1 ESV)

”
So it looks like there is still a requirement for us to offer a sacrifice, but now, that sacrifice is ourselves! Good thing it’s a living sacrifice! There is no day restriction for this. Our act of worship is the offering of our lives, not a set of rituals, ceremonies, or acts of worship performed according to exacting specifications anymore. Now, everything we do is done “in the name of The Lord”, not just when we assemble, but all the time!

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:17 NKJV)”

So am I saying that there is no longer any need to assemble together? Wrong! We are told by word and example to gather together to teach and encourage one another. The earliest Christians in Acts 2 gathered every day, while later they gathered on the first day of the week. Romans 14 makes it clear that we have leeway on what day, or days, we gather. All days are alike, because all days are days of worship where we are doing everything in a way that brings glory to God. In fact, there is no scriptural authority for calling our meetings “worship services” at all. Our living sacrifice is our service of worship. Nor are we given a list of what can be designated as worship and precisely how it is to be done. “Decently and in order” is a guideline that is very general in nature in many ways.

So are we supposed to worship God? Yes. When? All the time! Do we have authority to stop worshipping? No! How do we live/worship? In love, decently, and orderly! Do we have the scriptural authority to divide our lives between worship and non-worship? No! Does the Bible contain a command, example, or inference for everything we can do in our lives 24/7? Of course not. Just keep it encouraging, loving, decent, and do go wild about it. We are free to worship in a way that is guided by the Spirit and focused on the Truth — Jesus.

Faith. It is a fruit of the Spirit that is essential to our spiritual progress, and even our salvation. Much is said in the Scriptures about having faith enough to receive whatever we ask of The Lord. And it is correct to say that God rewards the faith of those who diligently seek Him.

But there is a deeper level of faith than the one required for receiving an affirmative answer to our requests. A question we all need to consider is this: “Do I have enough faith to get a ‘no’ from God?” Please let me illustrate what I mean.
If you are faced with a terminal illness, do you have enough trust and faith in God to continue to follow Him if you are not healed? Do you trust Him enough to die if that is His will? I submit to you that this takes more faith than receiving an instant healing.

That kind of faith was shown by the three Hebrew young men who refused to worship the golden statue of the king.

If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17, 18 NKJV)

Did you catch what they said? They believed that God could protect them, but were determined to follow His commandments even if their deliverance did not come. That is the kind of faith God is looking for — unconditional faith! I think it was there “no matter what” attitude that helped them to be delivered from the fiery furnace without even a hint of smoke on them. You see, faith is not belief without evidence; it is obedience without reservation.

In the Gospels, Jesus showed that same kind of faith in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. ” (Matthew 26:39 NKJV)

Jesus’ depth of faith and trust was displayed by His willingness to receive form The Father whatever the divine will entailed. It involved subordinating His own will to that of the Father. It begs the question about our own faith. Am I willing to not shrink back in my faith if it means the will of God leads through the valley of the shadow of death? When it all comes down to it, will we be able to say what Job said? “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13:15a).”

Too often today, the lost are told that they need to come to Christ because of all the things He will do to make life better for them. It’s a “me” centered message that is both harmful and unbiblical. Television preachers talk incessantly about how healing or deliverance hinges on how much faith they have. But salvation is not about having “our best life now” or being a success in business. It is about complete and utter surrender to the will of God, no matter where that leads us. That is why we need to be able to put aside what we desire and accept what He desires without reservation.

The poet, Joyce Kilmer once wrote that “only God can make a tree” and she was right. Many important events in the Bible happened on or around trees. But I would like to consider what are arguably two of the most significant events in history that involved trees.

To look at the first event, we need to go back to the Garden of Eden. From the beginning, Adam lived in complete freedom to partake from any tree in the garden, except for one.

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16, 17 NASB)

Pretty simple, right? But as we all know, Adam and Eve both ate from the tree after satan convinced them that Jehovah was trying to withhold something from them. Once they stopped trusting what God had told them, they were setup to fall.

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4, 5)

After the Fall in the garden, they were kicked out of paradise and sin, or a sinful nature that predisposes us to sinfulness, passed to all. It was like someone dented the bread pan and from then on every loaf had a defect.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned- (Romans 5:12)

But that was not to be the end. Even though death and sin entered the world because of what happened on a tree, the remedy for our situation would come from a “Second Adam”, at it would also happen at a tree.
The early church father, Irenaeus, put it this way:

“Through a tree we were made debtors to God; so through a tree we have our debt canceled.”

And he was right! The death that came through the sin at a tree was atoned for by the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God on a tree. Paul, by inspiration, described it like this:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree “- (Galatians 3:13 NASB)

Jesus took the cross, a tree of death, and turned it into the new tree of life for us. An implement of torture and cruel punishment for sin, is now a source of life and forgiveness of sin.

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed. (I Peter 2:24 NKJV)

Yes, Joyce Kilmer was right when she wrote that “that only God can make a tree”, but even more significantly, only God can take a tree of death, and make it a tree of life! Where the first Adam fell and brought death, the second Adam has paid for life and immortality for all who would receive it!

but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! (2 Timothy 1:10 NET)

He was a traitor to his people, his family, and his own integrity. He had been kicked out of his family, his faith, and his nation. No one wanted anything to do with him, unless it meant casting further scorn on him or even killing him. He had nothing left but a nagging conscience, which he tried to drown out in the pursuit of wealth at the expense of those who had cast him out.

Things had not always been this way. He was from a priestly family, and had been given the name of his tribe — Levi. But somehow, somewhere, the temple worship had lost its luster for Levi. Perhaps it was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as the paraded around like pious peacocks wanting to be admired for their meticulous obedience to the traditions of the fathers. Then again, maybe it was the greed of the money changers, who were stealing from the people like the hated tax collectors, but whitewashed it as holy commerce. So Levi left it all and went to the dark side. He began collecting taxes for the emperor, with extra added on for his personal “needs” as he saw fit.

His father Alphaeus (Clopas in Hebrew) was heartbroken, as was his mother Mary. His brother James had severed ties with Levi long ago and would not even speak to him or acknowledge that he was even alive. This family, once admired for their priestly piety and decorum, was coming apart at the seams.

But then He came along. A prophet from Nazareth of all places. His name was Jesus, and He taught in a way none of them had heard before. Instead of rambling quotes from rabbis of the past, He taught with authority. What especially appealed to Levi was the man, Jesus, who was not afraid to say out loud some of what he had been thinking all along about the Pharisees and the money changers. From what he could tell, his mother was the first to become a disciple, followed soon after by his brother James and father Alphaeus. It was all well and good for them, but what Levi had done was so heinous as to be irreversible. There was no path back into the fold once you sold your soul to Rome.

“Good for them!” he thought. At least they had found the answers he had been looking for but only discovered too late for redemption. Even if, somehow, this Jesus would let him follow at a distance, his father and brother would never publicly accept him back into the family. And he was wrong. Jesus was teaching about forgiveness and restoring relationships with his Father in heaven. Perhaps there was a chance, but did Levi dare to get his hopes up? No, it was best to resign himself to making the most of life as an outcast.

And then one day, as if out of nowhere, Levi was blindsided. Before he had time to consider the “what ifs” Jesus of Nazareth walked by his tax station. Would he be today’s object lesson, or the brunt of righteous indignation? Levi braced himself. What he heard instead were the sweetest words ever to enter his ears and pierce his soul. As their eyes met, Jesus simply said, “Follow me.” And that’s exactly what he did. Levi had messed up enough things in life, and he was not going to miss this opportunity. For instead of scorn and condemnation, he heard words of forgiveness and redemption from his Creator.

Levi (or Matthew) was now reunited with his family, including the brother who once counted him as dead. Soon they would both be apostles. They were not brought together as priest and traitor, but as brothers in Christ, and the old had passed away forever. I wonder sometimes if Levi and Jesus ever discussed what it was like to have a mother named Mary and a brother named James? This family, once so broken and shattered, had been reconciled around their love for Jesus Christ. Love does that; it restores. Levi could be “brother” to James, and the other disciples (even Simon the Zealot).

Have you wandered so far that you think there is no way home to God? If that worries you, then no, you can still come home. But do not delay to do so, for if you refuse His offer of restoration and reconciliation to God, the urge will wane and you will lose the desire and eventually the ability to repent. Come back now. Jesus is still looking at each one of us and saying “Follow Me” on a daily basis. Make today “that day” for you.