Red Lines, Deadlines, and Red Letter Days

Yesterday in his UN speech, Netanyahu made a case for establishing red lines and deadlines to stop Iran's nuclear weapons development. If those red lines are crossed, military action would result. But, the course of preference for the UN and U.S. is continued diplomacy and sanctions.

Generally speaking, ‘red lines’ and ‘deadlines’ are necessary in life. Without them, people get all willy-nilly—people need boundaries. Interestingly, some Bibles highlight all of Jesus' words in red, called "Red Letter Bibles." When we stay within Jesus' red lines of obedience, we have peace, joy, and feel God's love (John 15:10). You might even call those red letter days. But when we cross the lines, we lose all of that. We experience futility (Eph 4:17).

And does God give us ‘deadlines?’ Well, the obvious one is death. But I think we have a more immediate deadline, called “Today.” “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me in the day of trial in the wilderness… [That is why] you must warn each other every day, while it is still “today” so that none of you will be deceived” (Heb. 3:7, 13). What happens when you miss today's deadline?  Don’t worry. Tomorrow is another “today.”