Change or Die

Nothing is more dramatic than being told you are going to die if you don’t change.

Chapter 9 deals with that.

Pastor Idleman tells of patients who suffer from heart disease and have had to undergo bypass surgery.  If you have had to go through this, it is very traumatic and costly and according to Chapter 9 statistics, 600,000 people go through it every year.

They are told by their doctor that they have been fixed temporarily, but they have to change their lifestyle or die.

Two years after the bypass, 90% have not changed a thing.

My dad was one of those.

What is a heart attack?  It is not much of a stretch to say it is the brutal honesty that Pastor Idleman has talked so much about in his book.  It is your body telling you that something is very wrong and you need to change.

Let’s take a look at your soul.

Say you have a list of behaviors you do in your life and you know they are wrong.

Will you have a soul attack?  Can a doctor do soul bypass surgery and repair your problem?  Sounds silly doesn’t it?  But is it?

What if God said, change or die?

What if we are one of the 90% and we don’t change?  What if we keep sinning over and over again?  Will God grow weary of our repeated disobedience?  Will he kill us?

No I don’t think so.  He does not have to kill us. He forgives us over and over.   Jesus was asked by the disciples how many times they needed to forgive someone. Jesus said, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).  We are choosing to kill ourselves and we are not experiencing the victory that God has promised to give us in our lives on earth.

“When believers are filled with (controlled by) the Spirit of God and the Word of God, God’s truth takes possession of a person’s mind and heart and we experience freedom.” (Warren Wiersbe, Being a Child of God)

I have never been to jail but sin is like a jail sentence you impose on yourself.  It is like locking yourself up.  When we sin and get away with it, you say, “Whew!  That was a close one but I got away!”  But you will sin again.  This is not freedom, to be trapped in a cycle of sin, knowing you will return to your transgression.  You can’t get away from it.  It has you captive.

What if God said you need to change or die?

What if the odds were as bad as the heart attack patients?

90%

What if nine out of ten of us can’t change.?

Poor odds indeed……….