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Cramming for the All-Nighter or a Delighter in the Day of the Lord?

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Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

Since our heart, or soul, is deceitful above all things it most definitely can deceive us into believing we are believing and trusting in Jesus – when in reality we are really trusting ourselves. Our soul has the potential to deceive us into believing we are worshipping, serving, and obeying Jesus – when in reality we are simply serving ourselves. For this reason we seek God. Not only does Scripture repeatedly exhort us to seek God, it provides us with appointed holy days designed purposefully to readjust our focus (if the Christian believes all the Word of God – including the Law – is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness – see 2 Tim. 3:16-17) to return to the true center of the universe: God Almighty! (Not SELF) Many of us have participated in the month of Elul’ focus on confession, repentance, and seeking God but now the focus narrows as we approach the highest of all holy days: Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur begins on Wednesday, October 1 concluding Thursday October 2, 2025. This is considered the highest of all holy days on God’s Biblical calendar. Why? The fall festival of Sukkot (or Tabernacles). Sukkot is a prophetic signpost alerting Jew and Christian when the Messiah is coming to “tabernacle” with mankind. Our Father, in His mercy and love, provides us with an opportunity to prepare to appear before Him. Monday, September 22, alerted us to the 10 Day countdown (the number ten being a prophetic symbol of judgment) to prepare for Yom Kippur and ultimately, to prepare for Jesus’ Return. Now I did not believe the church was about to be raptured on September 23, 2025. If I had of known when this was about to take place it would put me above Jesus (Who said He didn’t know the day the Father appointed – see Mt. 24:36).

Why does any of this matter? Let me explain it this way. I used to be a horrible student waiting till the last minute to cram for a test. In truth I hadn’t learned a thing. Quite simply I was doing what ever it took to pass the test and continue in my ignorance. Yet Matthew 24:42, 44, 46 states: Watch therefore [give strict attention, be cautious and active], for you do not know in what kind of a day [whether a near or remote one] your Lord is coming….. 44 You also must be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him…. 46 Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing.

In other words don’t be waiting the “night” before to prepare for the test. Live a lifestyle of learning. Jesus provided us with another parable to alert us to what we should be doing: Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.2 Five of them were foolish (thoughtless, without forethought) and five were wise (sensible, intelligent, and prudent).3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them; 4 But the wise took flasks of oil along with them [also] with their lamps. (Matthew 25:1-3)

The oil in this parable is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Wise virgins didn’t wait till the last minute to prepare for the return of the Bridegroom. They had spent their time collecting extra oil. How do you get more of the Spirit? It’s no coincidence that Jesus spent some of the final days of His earthly ministry in a place called Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane was where Jesus prayed through to the Father’s Will regarding His crucifixion and resurrection. Here Jesus gathered extra Oil from the Spirit for the biggest test of His life. It’s no coincidence that this garden is where olive presses manufactured the oil sed to anoint kings and priests. Jesus wasn’t spending the night before the “test” cramming for extra oil. His entire life had been pressed in surrender to the Father’s Word and Will. Through His submission and obedience He had been gathering the Oil of the Spirit. He was a true “learner” of His Father in every way – not waiting till the last minute to regurgitate information He thought the Teacher wanted to hear. (See Hebrews 5:8-9) Jesus not only mastered the course laid out before Him He received His doctorate in order to teach others His Ways.

Read My Lips

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Some may remember when President George H.W. Bush, Sr. was lambasted for a campaign promise during the 1988 Republican National Convention bid for the presidential nomination. What was the now infamous promise? Read my lips. No new taxes. The Democrats never let him forget that one. In the book of Jonah we discover that History repeats itself.

Jonah 1:9, 14-16 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land.…Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship to the land, but they could not, for the sea became more and more violent against them.14 Therefore they cried to the Lord, We beseech You, O Lord, we beseech You, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.15 So they took up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.16 Then the men [reverently and worshipfully] feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

What’s wrong with this picture? Jonah states he reverently fears and worships the Lord – while running from Him in disobedience. The pagan, unbelievers fear God, pray, and quickly obey God. Amos 5:23-24 shines light on the contradiction: Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not listen to the melody of your harps.24 But let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream. Interestingly enough, Amos lived during Jonah’s life time. What else did Amos say? 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness and not light;…20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light? Even very dark with no brightness in it? While Amos is preaching to Israel, Jonah is longing for the Day of the Lord to destroy the people of Nineveh. Can you see the wickedness in this? As I write this there are those in the Body of Christ longing for the rapture to come in September 2025. Why is that a problem? There are approximately over 3 billion people who have never heard the Gospel and we’re wanting to get raptured?

In Jonah 1:9,14–16 – Jonah chose to give lip service to God rather than truly fearing, and worshipping God ~ as compared to the pagan sailors who truly feared, reverenced, and worshipped God through obedience. Why do we need to seek God? Why do we need repentance? Years ago a pastor remarked that he was evangelistic yet didn’t think we needed missions because the American Church had done such a spectacular job of reaching the nations. Can you see the contradiction? I’m evangelistic but I don’t believe in evangelizing the nations? Keith Green wrote a song years ago titled, Asleep In the Light. It was poignant then and even more so now. Soak this in as you seek the Lord with repentance: Do you see? Do you see? All the people sinking down? Don’t you care? Don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown? How can you be so numb? Not to care if they come, You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done, “Oh, bless me, Lord, bless me, Lord”, You know, it’s all I ever hear, No one aches, no one hurts, No one even sheds one tear, But, He cries, He weeps, He bleeds, And He cares for your needs, And you just lay back and keep soaking it in, Oh, can’t you see it’s such sin? ‘Cause He brings people to your door, And you turn them away, As you smile and say, “God bless you, be at peace”, And all Heaven just weeps, ‘Cause Jesus came to your door, You’ve left Him out on the streets, Open up, open up, And give yourself away, You see the need, you hear the cries, So how can you delay? God’s calling and you’re the one, But like Jonah, you run, He’s told you to speak but you keep holding it in….