Stay of Execution

What do you think of when you hear the short sentence stay of execution?

Here is an explanation of the concept: An order by a court to temporarily stop an action or an earlier court decision being carried out

The first time I heard this terminology was in reference to someone being on death row, and attorneys fighting for a stay of execution, a holding off of the event because the person in custody awaiting their turn in the electric chair was evidentially innocent. Imagine an innocent person being killed for a crime they didn't commit; why, that may be labelled murder, especially if they were wrongly accused, imprisoned, sentenced and subsequently hung, injected with lethal poison, or firing squad executed. Jesus was beaten, abused, and hung on a tree to die and He never hurt a soul, always speaking truth... some people don't take kindly to the Truth, it actually makes them murderous.

Here are the words of the apostle Paul to the Galatians:

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? (Galatians 4:16)

Paul too, was killed by Vicious. I personify this word, dear reader, because it would appear that killers actually become this, when they want to take the life of someone that challenges their words and ways. 

Now what if I were to tell you that there has been a stay of execution, for you and I, and thousands upon thousands of others that know Jesus Christ as Saviour? Guilty deserves punishment, isn't that right? Don't we suffer consequences when we do wrongly, break the law, injure another with our words and or deeds? In Christian parlance, unrepentant sinners end up in the fiery pit when their numbered days end, and those that profess Christ as the remission of sins, or forgiver based on Him having paid the price for us, end up in eternity with the three in one God when we breathe our last. One way or another, we get what we deserve without the Advocate, or we receive a stay, with Jesus as our Mediator.

With the above background set in place for this blog, I am going to be sharply blunt. There are many guilty parties roaming this carbon soaked earth (I mock the carbon nonsense in this reference, dear one: bs-ery must be made fun of to break the spell spun on a populace that is easily misled) that are currently and unknowingly, living a stay of execution. They have yet to learn that their guilty existence has been stamped with the words IN JEOPARDY. God, in His mercy, has given a grace period between crimes committed, judgment, sentencing, and punishment meted. Time on earth will not last forever, and rarely does a human get to the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty, let alone ninety: in fact, an average lifespan is seventy-nine years... hmmm, how many years do you think you might have left, dear reader?

This said, the execution of God's plan will not, I repeat, will NOT BE STOPPED or stayed, and has been laid out before the dawn of time, before the foundations of the earth were formed, and before silly little humans got the idea that they could do what they wished without fear of reprisal. God is Justice, and this word is also personified, along with the word Truth, which is what Jesus is known as. 

It stands to reason since God is immutable, that His timeline for our beginning and end on this earth be set. He isn't waiting for you and I to finish our plans. He does not consult with us regarding the when of the ending of this human race story: it is His will that matters. He has given us time to set our houses in order, because Jesus is coming to Judge (personification anyone?) the living and the dead, and He knows exactly who we are, what we have done, and where we will end up once the gavel comes down. As the prophet Isaiah said to Hezekiah:

Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live (Isaiah 38:1)

Hezekiah asked God for an extension and was given a reprieve... but dear reader, he was an exception to the rule, and perhaps some of us have been too, but the average person dies when they die, and that's the end of that, I mean them!

There are two camps, and only two, and you and I have sunk our tent pegs into the earth, establishing which one we belong to. The world-lies set up circus tents, with grotesque displays of carnival like characters that reduce humanity to a lowly state of carnality. Perhaps the godly can be envisioned as occupying humble canvas abodes, modestly adorned and elegantly inviting. We are created in God's image, and yet many have sullied themselves to the point of looking more like their father, the devil. 

I don't know, dear reader, what we are to do with the current state of the world? I know it ain't pretty, as the saying goes, because the great divide is Lord of the Rings real, and if people can't see it, feel it, hear it, does it mean what I sense is imagined, or they are just plain old blind, deaf, and dumb? 

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? (Galatians 4:16)

I like Saul turned Paul. I like that he made His way to Jerusalem knowing he was walking to his own execution as a martyr. Saul was in one camp and got recruited to move to the other, becoming Paul, willing to die for the Truth. Paul could have asked for a stay, a postponement, a delay to stop and smell the roses, perhaps attend a revival meeting, church pot luck, or cool conference with his bros in Christ, but instead, he spoke the gospel everywhere he travelled, because he was commissioned to make disciples of men. 

And so are we. We are commissioned to make disciples of men, dear reader, when we are in Christ and following in His footsteps. 

There will come a point in time when each of us will be in a position to prove ourselves, really let everyone know which camp we lodge in and ultimately belong to. The clowns have painted themselves in a rainbow of colours, profaned the name of the Lord, and debased themselves publicly: some attend churches and say strange things about the Bible and Jesus... The person they describe is no one I know, dear one. 

God will execute His plan, in fact, He already is, already has, always does, always will. He is God and no matter the generation, He makes a way for those that love Him, honour and obey Him, and sadly, those that reject Him will make their way to where He isn't, because God cannot tolerate despicable debasement displayed by His created beings. He is Holy, and will not suffer the ungodly for eternity... which means we have time, before this earth rolls up like a scroll, to switch camps if we have been occupying the wrong one!

❓Have you been in the enemy of God camp, dear reader? 

❓Are you ready to pick up your belongs and travel to Him and be with His people?

If so, make your way out of that garish tent, and take the road less travelled. Along the way you will encounter The Prince of Peace and He will give you an understanding beyond your earthly human reckoning. There are only two camps, and one is anti-christ... the other is with Him.

Which do you choose, this day? And, you simply must choose... everyone must choose.