Truth Matters 47

Medical professionals know that time is always of the essence in the treatment of a seriously injured or ill person.

Every minute can make a difference in the outcome of a patient's recovery. The same is true in the Kingdom of God. In 2 Corinthians 6, 2, the Lord speaks of favorable times that He listens and times that He may not.

The Apostle Paul says, Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow or next week, but today. Today on Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, she concludes her series on Don't Miss the Moment, being prepared to seize the moment when opportunity or God is knocking on your door. Our lives are filled with decisions, some good, some bad, and some catastrophic.

But there is no decision in life that God cannot change for the good of those who love Him. But time is of the essence. Here's Dr. Cheryl Davis.

Don't Miss the Moment. I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis. Francis Collins, who mapped the human genome, was a UNC chief resident. It's a pretty significant honor within medicine. Ultimately, my goal was to match at the Cleveland Clinic to do interventional cardiology.

Notice I have labeled these plans my plans and my goals. The time came in September 2006, and I was chosen as the chief resident for UNC Hospital's internal medicine program. For me, it was my pinnacle moment. I had imagined how I would feel, but on the day of the announcement, all I felt was emptiness.

My happiness only lasted 30 minutes. I could not get away from a nagging emptiness that lasted for weeks. Through a lot of inner turmoil, looking back on it, it was conviction. What I realized is that I worshiped my gift more than the giver. My problem was that there was only one seat on the throne of my heart. God was not in the seat.

I was in the seat. I saw my heart for its true idolatry and saw that I was far from Christ, even though I rarely missed church outside of work. I was a backslidden, regular church attendee, and I had deceived my own heart. In October 2006, the Lord changed my heart. I made a choice to follow him wholeheartedly.

On the outside, I looked like success, but on the inside, I was miserable. If I had not seen God in that pinnacle moment, I don't know if I would have seen him again. That day, I made a decision to not be conformed to this world and its idols, but to be transformed by the power of God and the renewing of my mind so that I could prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Daily, I continued to renew my mind by reading his word and prayer and never forgetting where the Lord brought me from. Now, almost 14 years later, he has taken me to places that I never would have imagined and given me a peace that the world cannot give. He has taken those gifts that he gave me and used them for his purpose in many avenues, like teaching in the church and on the radio. Thank God he helped me to not miss the moment.

Don't miss the moment. I don't know where all of you are in your walk with God. I do know that you are in a crossroads in your life and you need his wisdom to navigate the culture of this world. I want you to really search your heart and ask God to reveal to you its condition.

Like I said, I was blind for a long time to my own heart's condition. I pray that in these important moments that you see God working to draw you into his purpose and his will. The way to transform and renew your mind is to make the choice with the help of the Holy Spirit to see this. God is using this moment in your life to awaken you spiritually to his sovereignty, his grace, and his provision in your life. God is giving you a vision of what he has done for you, is doing for you, and is going to do for you if you would only serve him with your whole heart. Don't miss God in the moment. Seizing the moment in responding to God's call to repentance and salvation is a decision you should not delay, because today could be your last opportunity.

We never know from one day to the next day may hold. This very moment could be God's time to move in your life, changing you into the person he has called you to be. The Lord does not expect you to be perfect or good, but what he does expect is a willing heart to let him make you into a new creation, a new person, giving you a new future. All that you must do to receive this new life is to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. Dr. Cheryl Davis would like to help you discover this new life in Jesus. You can read your by email at Cheryl Davis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or contact her on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. She would like to hear from you. Truth Matters is a production of the Truth Project.