Delayed Obedience

Isaiah 55:6
    “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.”

    Verses 1-5 of this chapter are a call to all who are lost. God speaks of the futility of working for bread that “does not satisfy” when we could instead “eat what is good.”
    He also assures us that He will fulfill His promises to us, as he did for king David.
    Verse six reaffirms this and tells us to chase after God while we can still find Him, and while He still makes the effort to be heard.
    My fist thoughts go to Joshua 11:20 and what Pastor Levi taught last Sunday (click here to watch--click on message 14, No stone Unturned). God is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish, but eventually time runs out for us and we will be judged accordingly.
    It is comforting that God waited 450 years for the sinful cities that inhabited the promise land before passing judgment and even forced evangelism on cities liked Nineveh (see the book of Jonah) so that they might be save. He truly is longsuffering and merciful, but eventually everyone will be judged.
    The message Pastor Levi gave still aches my heart: That people can say no to God so much for so long that their hearts can be hardened against Him beyond repair.
    I need to be more diligent in my prayers for my non-believing relatives and friends.

    However, I feel I’d be shortchanging this verse if I said it was only for non-believers. It strikes a cord with me to be obedient more quickly. There is a saying here at the ranch, “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” If I say “Maybe--I’ll get back to you on that,” when I feel He wants me to do something, eventually He’ll just stop asking. I need to say yes to His commands before I let the worries of this life flood out His call.
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See also:
Numbers 14--In that chapter Moses and the Israelites made it to the doorstep of the promised land and they sent twelve spies in, they all came back, ten of them had great fear of the people in the land, but two of them knew that God was greater than any enemy before them. The Israelites were so terrified they wanted to run back to Egypt, where they were enslaved, rather than trust God. The two warned them and pleaded them but the Israelites were ready to kill them when God intervened. God told them that what they had feared in their disobedience would become their punishment, they would die in the desert. After they heard this, against the warnings of Moses, the people tried to take the land. God was not with them and they lost that battle.
They set against God's will, and decided to disobey. However when they saw the alternative they tried to obey after. However the time of obedience had already passed.