“If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.” Jeremiah 26:3
“Sometimes you need to make a U-turn,” a beloved friend said. I was exiting her office, and, daydreaming, I didn’t know what she was referring to. But as soon as I heard her, I knew the Lord had given me a message.
Why do drivers make U-turns? Sometimes we’re driving down the highway, trying to get to the right destination, and realize we’re going the wrong way. We turn around to go the right way. Or, we’re lost and can’t figure out which way to go so we figure we’ll try a different route to find the right way. Or, we realize there’s a traffic jam not too far up the highway. Or, maybe an accident is ahead and we can’t afford to be, or don’t want to be, delayed. We know there’s a better way. We do a U-turn to go the best way. Bottom line. We realize we need to make a U-turn. Because we realize there’s a better way. A best way. A right way. We need to do a U-turn to get to the right road to get to where we need to go.
There is only ONE way to a relationship with God now and forever in heaven. Repentance and devoting our lives to God and His Word through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord who died on the cross to pay our sin penalty of death and eternal torment in hell and the lake of fire before He rose again as the first to be resurrected to eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY. Those who do not believe in Christ as Lord and live accordingly need to TURN to God through Christ. Not merely through intellectual faith. But in total devotedness to God. Yet this isn’t the end; it’s the beginning of a forever relationship with God, of being sealed with His Holy Spirit when we believe in Christ as Lord, asking for and receiving the gift of His Spirit and being ever filled with His Spirit, living our lives led by His Spirit, being transformed by His Spirit through His Word as we grow in God’s image, and being convicted by His Spirit when we sin against God and doing a U-TURN when the Lord convicts us we have sinned against Him as He ever conforms us to Christ.
When we follow God, His Spirit teaches us His Word, empowers us to live by it, convicts and chastens us when we sin, and tells us when we need to make a U-Turn and get back on the highway to heaven.
I have a strong sense someone reading this needs to make a U-Turn. Sometimes we tell ourselves, “just a little further. I’ll go just a little further. It’ll be okay.” But we know we’re going the wrong way. And it’s not okay. Not at all.
If you know you’re going the wrong way, you know what to do. Do a U-turn. Repent and return to the Lord.