WHICH WILL YOU BE CONFESSING?
It was a windy Sunday evening; the rustling leaves in the neighbourhood however did not catch Rixa’s attention as he cheerfully played chess with his neighbour. At the service earlier in the day, although seated at the front pew, he had been inattentive to the message being preached. He was completely lost in the thought of the business meeting scheduled for the next morning and the need to be early to the airport. The message had been on eternity and the need to prepare for death as it could happen at any time. He wondered how that could be a suitable topic for discussion when the congregation was filled with agile young men, bubbling with life. “This pastor is too pessimistic” he mumbled.
Monday morning arrived and having been so excited about the journey, he set out very early and arrived at the airport a couple of hours before the departure time; he boarded with other passengers as scheduled. The journey progressed smoothly until an unsettling sensation of serious turbulence became increasingly apparent about twenty minutes into the journey. This instilled fear in all the passengers who resorted to fervent prayers to God for mercy, despite the plea by the pilot and air hostesses for all passengers to stay calm. Rixa wasn’t any different, he engaged in an intense conversation with God, desperately seeking pardon and pleading for urgent divine intervention.
He confessed how he had joined other colleagues in swearing a false declaration of age, so he wouldn’t retire from the civil service on time. He also remembered how he had joined his colleagues in some corrupt practices at the office, including lying about the time of arrival at the office while signing in. He recalled the message from the pulpit that he had despised the previous day. Now the situation was very gloomy, and he was at the very jaws of death, the plane being at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet above sea level. He heard the passenger sitting close by confessing all the tithes she had refused to pay in the past couple of months; her excuse had been that the economy was harsh and God would understand. She promised to do her restitutions. Another passenger in the plane asked for forgiveness, very audibly, for all the lies she had told her husband in the course of asking for money for the family’s upkeep, while another confessed his extra-marital affairs.
Rixa however noticed that the young man who sat next to him had an unusual calm repose. All through the turbulence, he seemed not to be moved. He heard him converse with God in a way a little child would assuredly converse with her loving father; he then heard him say “Thank you loving Father for the assurance of a safe landing.” A couple of minutes after this, there was a great calm and the plane eventually landed safely, with passengers heaving a huge sigh of relief and thanking God for sparing their lives. While waiting at the arrival lounge of the airport, Rixa walked up to the passenger that sat close to him earlier and they exchanged contacts. He would later reach out to him that day and was eventually led to genuine salvation. This marked the beginning of a genuine relationship with God, for Rixa.
It is unfortunate that many persons live presumptuously, while others live as if the end would never come. There are others who live in secret sin and wait until they are in very precarious situations before they start confessing. Regrettably, some never had an opportunity to make the wrongs right at the time they closed their eyes in death. If you were in Rixa’s situation, which sin would you have been confessing? Why not confess and forsake them now? Do not continue to delay, you may regret eternally if you do. Never procrastinate the day of your salvation and restitution lest it gets too late. Jesus waits for the penitent sinner to receive, come to Him now.
© Pause and Ponder
Also, visit our YouTube channel and Facebook Page.