If You Knew You Were Going to Meet with God

“I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord...’”

Mark 1:2-3

What if you knew you were going to meet with God? It’s true, you know. You are going to meet with God. You will see Him. You will stand before Him, and you will have to give an account of your life to Him.

Some people would say, “I’m going to meet God? Great! I’ve got some questions for Him.” Or, “Great, I could use some help.” Other people might yawn and say, “So what? Who cares?” That’s not what these people did: “All the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to [John] and were being baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (1:5).

John said, “You are going to meet with God,” and these people responded by confessing their sins. Why did they do that? Because they knew enough about God to realise that if they were going to meet Him, they had better get ready. So, they came in droves. What about you? Would you have gone out with them?

The gospel is about Jesus Christ and in Him you will find repentance. The first sign of knowing God is that you become much more aware of your own sinfulness. When you come near to God’s Son, you see that you’ve fallen short. You feel that you need to change. Your pride starts falling away and you begin to say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Which of these responses is closest to your own? 1. “Lord, have mercy on me.” 2. “Lord, why did this happen to me?” 3. “Lord, help!” or 4. Other.