Wine, women and song. Endless merriment. Work hard, play hard. Chase after money and all that it can buy – get the big house, the fast cars all lined up in the garages, the prestige and the power and influence in every sphere we so choose.
Some say that they can afford to live a life of doing everything their way, what they want, how they want and when they want it. Self-made men. We can go against the commands of God and live our way. And yes, God gave each the free will to do so. But he also gives each of us a choice – your way or His way. And He may do so, several times throughout our life. But there will come a time when time runs out for us all. A reckoning. The consequences of our choices then come into play.
For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
Romans 9:17,18
Pharaoh hardened his heart 5 times to what God had asked him to do. He did not respond to the will of God. He chose to do it his way and not the way God had asked him to do it. On the sixth time, however, Scripture then reveals:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.”
Exodus 10:1,2
God demonstrated Grace and Mercy to Pharaoh 5 times. Pharaoh ignored it, rejected it and rejected God. It was God who then hardened Pharaoh’s heart. And a time of reckoning then came!
It is a dangerous position to reject the Grace and Mercy of God.
If you are a Christian, you are in a period of Grace and Mercy to live a life according to God’s Good Will and Purposes… are you being obedient to His Commands? Do you know what they are?
And if you don’t know God, or don’t believe in God, or have turned your back on God, you too are in a time of Grace and Mercy. You have until the day of Death to be reconciled with God. You will be given a choice to make Jesus Lord of your life, turn back towards God and discover you can live life in intimate relationship with God.
It’s not an easy choice, but it is forever and ever; for Eternity!