Brother Faith: "When I was your age, I was a hellraiser, too. My slingshot was my cross. But I saw the light, and changed my wicked ways."
Bart: "I think I'll go for the life of sin, followed by a presto-change-o deathbed repentance."
Brother Faith: "Wow, that's a good angle... But that's not God's angle."
(Taken from http://www.snpp.com/episodes/BABF06)
The script above is taken from the episode "Faith Off" form the television series "The Simpsons". In the scene, Bart is talking with a Christian miracle healer called Brother Faith, and I think Bart poses an interesting challenge. Why not have fun as I wish for most of my life, and then ask for God's forgiveness at the last minute? When I watched this episode many years ago, I didn't know how to answer that question.
The Bible admits that repentance just before death is honoured by God. One example is the thief who asked to be saved by Jesus while dying on a cross next to Him, and Jesus promised they would meet in paradise. Since the man was being crucified for the crime of theft, we could assume that he had lived "a sinful life", and yet there he is getting saved at the last minute.
So Bart intends to follow the same path as the thief. But there is an important difference between them both.
The thief had never met Jesus until he was crucified next to Him. The first time he met Jesus was the same time that he put his faith in Jesus. Bart, however, has heard about Jesus, and thinks that he can reject God now and then easily change his mind later in his life.
Bart thinks that God will forgive you of your sins as soon as your mouth says the words "I'm sorry", and that after you have signed this spiritual contract, you need to live you life as God tells you to. So Bart thinks the choice can be delayed, because saying those humble words can be delayed.
But the choice is not made by words from our mouth. The choice is made in our hearts as soon as we know who Jesus is and what He is offering us. The moment a person knows that God wants them joined to Him, they must choose to either move towards Him or away from Him. It is not possible to give a neutral answer. Saying 'Wait' is the same as saying 'No', because you are actually saying 'No, I will do things my way for a while first.'
It's true that a heart can turn around, that God can bring any of us to Him. But the danger that most people aren't aware of is that every choice your heart makes forms a habit.
The first time you choose whether to hold a grudge against someone, your decision could go either way. But if you have held a grudge against someone for many years, and today you are deciding again whether to hold that grudge against them, how easy will it be to let it go? You will have trained your heart, your mind, and your emotions to hold onto that grudge.
In the same way, if you say 'No' to God's offer of love for many years, how easy will it be to turn back and say a single 'Yes'? Or perhaps, after many years of saying 'No', you will cease to even consider that saying 'Yes' is an option. The paranoia that some people have of being brainwashed by advertising is an effective distraction from the danger of being brainwashed by yourself.
We should be careful because, like Bart, we are in a culture where we hear at least part of the Gospel message a long time before our death. By the time we are adults, a habit in the direction of God or Self will have already begun to be formed.
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