“It’s Never Too Late to Make a Change.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Throughout all of my years on this earth I have learned an important fact – it is never too late to make a change. However, the ability to sustain the change can be very challenging.

In 2 Chronicles chapters 5 and 6, we see that the temple has been completed and all the items that David had gather were all blessed and placed in side. The Levites had brought up the Ark of the Covenant also and placed in the temple. Then Solomon gathered all the people together for the dedication of the temple.

The congregation of the people were so happy, the began to play music and sing praises. This brought down the presence of God to such a degree that the priests could not stand to minister. After this Solomon began to pray. This prayer was so thorough, he covered every situation and circumstance that solomon could think of in which the children of Israel could sin against God Always asking God, “if the people repent and confess thy name, be with them and help them.” At the end of the prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed of offering Solomon made.

God agreed to Solomon’s prayer, and in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God provided some conditions of his own. God’s condition was a permanent correction, not a temporary fix. It is God’s will that we turn away from sin, and live a consecrated life before him.

It does not matter how long you have lived your life in a particular way, you can always make a change. All that is required is a made up mind to do things God’s way and not your own. The key to sustaining real change in our lives can be found in the story of the dedication of the temple. Your fleshly temple, must be consecrated for God’s use, filled with His presence, and filled with His Spirit. Just as praise and worship brought down the glory of the Lord in the dedication, we must live a life full of praise and worship. This will keep his presence ever with us.

When we realize that we have sinned or done wrong, we must repent quickly – turn from this behavior, and replace it with behavior that is pleasing to Him. This can be challenging because it takes discipline and dedication – which many lack, but it can be done.

There are things in our lives that we have been doing so long that we do not really consider them. However, when God reveals to you that these things are not pleasing to Him, he expects us to work on changing them. His end of the bargain is that once you put forth the effort to change he will help you and bless you – he will “hear [you] from heaven, forgive [your] sin, and will heal [your] land.”

Its important to understand that God expects real change. Not some temporary change just for a moment to get a blessing from the Lord. Remember, God knows the thoughts and intents of your heart (Hebrew 4:12), you cannot trick him. Real change does not say you will never make that same mistake again, it simply means I will not seek to make the same mistake. It is an attitude that says if I fall to this again, I will get up, repent quickly, and try with all my might to never do it again. And eventually you will find that you are well on your way to real change.