A storm that roared through our area got so intense that a tree as big around as a car came crashing down on a house in our community. It went all the way through the roof and the house. We're talking major, major damage here. It didn't take long for the insurance adjuster to come by and give the owner a check to get the damage repaired. She called a contractor to come over for an estimate, and when he asked if she wanted him to do the work, she told him she wanted another estimate first. He warned her that there was more rain in the forecast, but she was determined. She had a similar conversation with a second contractor. Then the big rain came - and, of course, it poured into her house. That's when she called a third and fourth contractor; both of whom gave her much higher estimates than the first two. Finally, she called in that first contractor who gave her a new estimate as high as the others. He said, "Ma'am, you waited so long that the rain came and did a lot more damage. So getting things fixed is going to cost a lot more." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cost of Putting Off the Repairs." It's amazing how we have a tendency to do that - to put off repairs that need to be made in our marriage, with our child, with our parents, in a broken relationship, or in dealing with a problem that we don't want to confront. We keep thinking about how much it's going to cost to try to fix things. And we put it off - just a little bit longer. Problem: the longer you wait to repair what's broken, the more expensive it's going to be. This is the easiest and cheapest it's ever going to be to make it right. One day it's going to get so bad it's unlivable that way. But the price of repairs may be more expensive than you ever dreamed. In the Bible, God is constantly urging us to get things fixed now. He says about our anger, for example, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:27). Translation: fix it now. Putting it off will only make it more expensive to fix. Jesus told the story of the son who insisted on getting his inheritance while his father was still alive. Then he went to another country and squandered it all on partying. Did he face the damage and start repairs at that point? Oh, no! Postpone the repairs; too hard to go home and admit you're wrong. Did he give in when his friends all abandoned him? No. When the only job he could find was feeding some farmer's pigs? He still postponed the repairs. But finally, as he was reduced to eating in that pig slop, he said, "I will go to my father." And that's when he finally got a real relationship with his father - when he least deserved love and forgiveness, his father gave it to him. We all need to go home to God that same way, because the most broken thing in our life is our relationship with God. The Bible says we're "far away" from God because our sin has cut us off from the one person we can't afford to live without - or die without. Our word for today from the Word of God is in Isaiah 55:6. It warns us to "...seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Well, the implication, one day you won't be able to find Him. If you feel His moving in your heart today, you can still find Him...for today, that is. Postponing the Christ who died for your sin gets more and more expensive; more and more days wasted without the love and the meaning you were made for. Until one day the days run out, and you will have to pay, forever, the bill for your sin that Jesus already paid for you on the cross because you put it off one time too many. Which is why I urge you, which is why I pray that you will not postpone repairing your relationship with God one more day. Talk to Him. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You died for me. You've got me today." Getting this settled brings the greatest peace in the world. I want to help you with that. That's why our website is there. Go there today and get the information that will