IF


IF...  only two letters, yet the word holds a wealth of meaning. 


If only... 
If there... 
If it...

 If I...
If we...
If you...
If they...

 What if...
Maybe if...

 IF, IF, IF

How many times in a day do you or I utter the word IF?

 Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem titled IF. 

 The word IF is used in the Bible more than 1500 times. The word IF is a conditional word. IF is dependent on something else. It can also be replaced in some cases with the word WHEN. 

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. (2 Chronicles 7:12-15)

 In my mind I see this as a very generous contingency plan or condition- 

 if I humble myself, 
if I pray, 
if I seek God, 
if I turn from my wicked ways (my sin) 

 I will get in return- the ear of God listening- forgiving sin, and healing the land. 

 God makes it known in verse 15 He is listening! Are you doing the IF? 


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