How many times do I have to tell you?

As kids, how many times did we hear the phrase, “How many times do I have to tell you before you will listen?” We know that we heard it many of times but whatever our parents were talking about, we simply failed to listen.

Then, we became parents ourselves and to this day we still say the same phrase, “How many times do I have to tell you before you will listen?”. I know in our household it is almost a daily occurrence. Sometimes the things we are talking about are small things like putting clothes in the dirty clothes. These little things are not life-threatening but it teaches responsibility to the kids. And then, there are things the kids do that could be potentially life-threatening like looking both ways before crossing a road. If they don’t listen to that then one day a car may come from nowhere and hit them.

Do we really mean these words each time we repeat them? Of course, we do! We know that we are trying to protect our children from harm just like our parents were trying to protect us.

What about our Heavenly Father? How many times a day do you think He looks at us and says, “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU BEFORE YOU WILL LISTEN??”. If I had to guess, He has to tell us that a lot. The difference is that we don’t physically hear Him tell us so we don’t think about Him saying it. Throughout the entire Bible, He tells us what we need to do and what we need to avoid to stay protected from the devil and his army. Although it is laid out in the Bible, we often times forget (or ignore) what the Bible says.

When we became Christians, we put our life and soul in the hands of Christ. We let Him know that He will be our guide for the rest of our life. We knew that we could not do it without Him and fell before Him wanting Him to help us get to where we need to be to spend eternity with Him. We strive to follow as close to Him as possible but sometimes we fail over and over and it causes Him to repeat the famous phrase above.

Are you stuck living in Sin? Is God constantly repeating, “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU BEFORE YOU WILL LISTEN?” to you? Whether it be alcohol addiction, pornography, adultery, idolatry, or any other sin that controls your life, He is telling you to make a change! One day it will be too late and He will not warn you any longer.

Make this time, the last time that God repeats that phrase to you.

If you need help, please reach out to someone today.

God is Good…