Isaiah 55:6-7

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
Isaiah 55:6-7


This is good... a little scary at the beginning.  Kind of a warning.  This life is very important, and we need to choose God and do great things. :)  If we slack off and then die without repenting... the testing period is over.  It's like going to college for 4 years, skipping classes and avoiding homework, getting all Ds and Fs... then dropping out and working as a cashier at 7-11 for 17 years... and then trying to get a job in a world-famous Orchestra: "I've never really *played* the violin, but I have *always* admired it, and I've listened to lots of classical music over the years."  You finally realize that for those 21 years you should have been preparing for something, and so you go and beg the college president to give you a diploma for the work that you did.  First of all, he isn't going to give you the diploma... and second of all, even if you had it... would that make you a successful violinist?
So, the message here is at least partly... change your ways while you are still in college.  :)  We are preparing for something in this life, you know?  And if we get to the other side without being prepared... no crash course in the world is going to solve our problem.
The second verse is awesome... because it says... "hey... I’m the college president, and I really do want you to graduate.  I know you blew up the science building, and you bulldozed the college of agriculture's final projects.  More than 3 million dollars in damages, and 18 people who won't graduate when they planned to.  But, you know... I see something in you.  I see this incredible potential, something I have never seen before in exactly this way.  So, I'll tell you what... I'll pay for the building.  I'll calm down the 18 Agriculture majors who want to destroy you.  I want you to contribute $20 a month towards purchasing some new plants, and I want you to stop blowing things up, and go back to class and study your butt off and become what you can be.  See you at graduation."  Things that no-one else would think of forgiving... God will.  God knows how much you are worth, and wants you to be prepared to meet him again, and to continue your life after this earth.  We have actions and thoughts that we need to give up to get there... and yes, maybe blowing things up is an addiction... but you *can't* argue that it is helping you get a degree in music, can you? :)  God wants to forgive us... and he wants us to be prepared.  No matter what we've blown up here, he will let us go back to class and earn that degree.   When we graduate from this life... he *will* be there.  Will we be ready?