“Final Notice” notices…
“Last Warning”, “Urgent”, “Past Due”, “Last Opportunity”, “Response Required”, “Last Warning”, “Last Chance”, “Legal Action will be taken …”
We all get them, and from time to time they are legit. Normally, they are bills that need to be paid before some negative action takes place.
But from time to time, and perhaps way too often at that, they are simply people swarming our mailbox, inbox and voicemail with a final opportunity for us to participate in helping to make them richer. Hurry or you’ll miss the grand opportunity of paying a fairly decent sum to someone who will teach you how to be richer than you are!
The pressure tactics of sales people are everywhere. From the vendor showing a grand product in your local store, or that door to door sales person who has just a “few opportunities” left for the right person. We face them often and unless you know how to avoid the pitfall, you will soon find yourself the proud new owner of ___________ (you fill in the blank).
I suspect too many are gullible, and I know there have been times that I have succumbed to the same pressure I’m talking about. It’s like a vortex, a whirlpool of convincing speech, drawing you closer to the “Yes” moment.
My bride is good at saying “no” and she’s probably the toughest person I know to convince that the opportunity is a good one. We all need people in our lives like this, but you cannot have mine!
But there are warnings we get that we ignore to our peril.
Valid opportunities to improve our lot in life, our health, or to avoid a calamitous event. We would do well to learn when to take notice of the right event to heed a final warning. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Earthquake. Snow and Ice. Avalanche. Landslides. Riots. Marches. Crimes. Bombs.
We live in strained political times. The left, the right, the middle, the undecided. We all fit in a category that worries all the others. Like reading tea leaves, we attempt to discern the times and hope we make good choices in preparing for the future. A local “channeler” (I know of no better word) who has hooks in many minds, declares that the current administration will save our country and the world. [Source] The radios waves are full of rhetoric, crying out to an audience to choose sides. News talkers are waving the red flag of warning….
“News is all about who can shout their view louder than others. Eventually they drown out the opposition and declare victory.” ~Michael Gurley #DoNotTurtle March 20, 2017
What to do? Who to believe? When will it all quiet down?
“In times like these it’s good to remember there have always been times like these!” ~Paul Harvey
There have always been times like these! Excellent thought. The dire notices have always been shouted from roof tops and menacingly shared around dining tables. Wherever there is an audience, people have nearly always been convinced of the finality of it all.
There must be a voice we listen to, and a voice we will follow. A long time ago, I chose the voice of Jesus…
He spoke of a future time that we are to be aware of. Tumultuous times that will separate families from each others. He also gave many warnings on how to properly acknowledge the seasonal times so as to be prepared for calamity.
Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? (Luke 12:54-56 NKJV)
Discerning the times. We can predict the weather, sometimes, but we cannot even tell the lateness of the hour we are living in. His constant warning was the verb “watch”, a word that describes the sleeplessness we all feel when we are very concerned about something. That constant awareness of what’s happening that keeps us from resting our eyes.
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36 NKJV)
Many are keeping watch. Waiting. Praying. And studying the signs and the seasons. Are we close? Perhaps. But we will not have any “final notice” warning that I’ve been speaking of. It will comes as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43), and in an hour when you think not (Luke 12:40). We will not know of the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36), nor the times or the seasons (Acts 1:7).
Simply put, it does us well to be ready for that moment. Whenever it may be. No true warning. It will simply happen.
Where do you stand? Are you ready?