Today Is the Time to Repent

The Lord has said, "I have warned you and forewarned you" — He has warned us again today through His servants. Perhaps some of us will continue to say that there is a tomorrow when we will repent and lead a finer life, but we all know that as far as each one of us is concerned the time comes when for us there is no tomorrow. The Lord has also said that today is the time to repent. ¶

You remember that the Lord told His prophet, Noah, that he should go out and warn the people and tell them of the coming destruction. But the people, seemingly because they thought there would always be a tomorrow and because the floods did not come that day or the next day, thought they would never come; therefore, they ridiculed the prophets and went their way. But the floods came and they were destroyed, because they would not listen to the prophets of the Lord. ¶

I remember hearing a story of a man who had just lost his oldest son. The father was not a very religious man. In fact, he had disregarded most of the Lord's commandments. Because of his son's being called to the other side, a good man went into the house to talk with the father and to the family. The son had been unfaithful in every way. ¶

He had been disobedient unto his parents, to his country, to his God. As the good man talked with the father and the family, the father said, "I think that this is a time for prayer." Perhaps we all think that only when the emergency comes to us it is the time to pray. The efficiency of a prayer is dependent on the type of life we have lived and the way we have made progress upon the earth. When the time comes for the summons, to ourselves or to our family, if we have not repented, if we have not done the things that should have been done, the praying comes rather late. ¶

I trust, brethren, that as we continue traveling along the way of life, we will try to do the things that God through His servants wants us to do. The time is short and there is no telling when it might be too late for us to repent and do the things that we ought to do. It is very easy in an emergency, such as we have in war today, to build big buildings and to make steel and to make airplanes and to build hospitals. Perhaps we can do these things in a material way, but we cannot all of a sudden build character, build decent homes, or have a family who have such confidence in us that they will listen to our words and listen to the words of the servants of the Lord. May we be humble as we live upon the earth. May we repent of our sins. May we take this message seriously as it comes to us today, and live better and finer than we have ever lived before, I humbly pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶