"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel." Amos 4:12
As presented on *The Lutheran Hour® by Dr. Walter A. Maier, 1940
How—and may this be the question that clamors for answer in your heart!—how can we prepare to meet the Lord? How can we remove all damning iniquity from our souls and stand purified before the holy God?
As the Advent cry resounds, "Behold your God!" look to Jesus, believing with all your heart that He is your God. Understand this keystone doctrine clearly: Jesus had to be God because no man, no saint, no angel, no legion of cherubim or seraphim, could offer the ransom required for our souls' redemption. He had to be God to bring the one sacrifice by which sin, death, and hell could be defeated forever.
So prepare now to meet your God in Christ, during this busy week. This message may be the last God Almighty will permit you to hear. It may be that, if what I now tell you in Christ's name does not move your heart and bring you, penitent and contrite, to Jesus, nothing in this world will ever save you. When we stand before the throne in eternity, I do not want you to point to me and say, "I heard you on the radio, but you did not tell me of my soul's danger." To prevent that tragedy, forget everything else as we repeat to you that without Christ you can never face God, but with Christ the portals of heaven itself will swing wide amid the hallelujahs of the angels, welcoming you when your hour comes.
Don't delay! Don't postpone! Come now, in the Advent season!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, bring us to a deeper faith, so that we are prepared to meet our God and help others meet their God in Thee! Amen.
Taken from A Message of Hope: Proclaiming the Promise (selections from messages broadcast on *The Lutheran Hour, celebrating 75 years of proclaiming the promise).
Copyright © 2005 by Lutheran Hour Ministries
*The Lutheran Hour is the longest-running Christian radio broadcast in the world. It is a production of Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, visit www.lutheranhour.org.
Today's Bible Readings: Ezekiel 42-44 1 John 1
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