Don’t Miss Him

November 3, 2008

By Gary Rogers

If you miss some things, there are only minimal consequences. If you miss the mailman, you have to go to the post office. If you miss the bus, someone will have to drive you to your destination. If you miss an appointment, you’ll need to reschedule. If you miss your favorite TV show, you’ll have to watch the rerun. In our daily lives we can find a quick recovery for most things we miss.

But if you miss God, life does not go on as usual.

If you miss God’s leading, your life will take a wrong path. If you miss God’s correction, your life will be headed for the pain of continued sin. If you miss God’s love, your life will be without the true meaning of love. If you miss God’s joy, your life will be filled with empty pursuits for elusive happiness. If you miss God’s call to salvation, your life will end without a future hope. When you miss God, life does not go on as usual.

Acts 2:1-4 describes the baptism in the Holy Spirit among the first Christians. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Early Church, the response of the people in Jerusalem was mixed. Verse 6 says some were “confused” (NKJV); verse 7 says others were “amazed and marveled”; verse 12 tells us some were “amazed and perplexed”; verse 13 says, “others mocking.” With all these different initial responses verse 41 says that “about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Of the 3,000 added to the Church, how many of them had the initial response of being confused, amazed, perplexed or marveling? Maybe even some of the mockers heard Peter’s explanation and became believers. We do know that some 3,000 were careful not to miss God. They didn’t permit the crowd or their personal first response to be the determining influence. They opened their hearts and believed.

When we open our hearts and minds to God’s truth and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal himself to us, then we are safeguarded from missing His blessings. God has rich and boundless provisions ready for you to experience and enjoy. Open your heart today and don’t miss what God has designed for you.

— Gary Rogers is senior pastor of First Assembly of God in Coweta, Okla.