Almost is Not Enough
Jeremiah 26:24
"Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death."
There are many things you can do when almost will be enough. Almost is good enough when you play horseshoes. You can almost get a ringer, and still get points. When playing darts, you can almost hit the bullseye and get points for missing the mark. As a teacher of mine said years ago, you can almost hit a target with a bomb and still do much damage.
Almost works with many things, but it does not work when it comes to doing right. Jehoiakim almost did right with what Jeremiah said, but it was not good enough. Jeremiah stood in the courts of the LORD's house and testified against the cities of Judah because of their wickedness. When the king's servants heard these words, they returned to the king to tell the him what Jeremiah said. Some of the people wanted Jeremiah killed, for they felt his words were treasonous. Others stood and told the story about Micah testifying during Hezekiah's day, and reminded the king that instead of killing the prophet, Hezekiah got right with God. After hearing both suggestions, Jehoiakim saved Jeremiah from being killed, but he did not get right with God concerning the sins of Judah. He almost did right, but his almost was not enough to stay God's judgment.
There are many times when we can almost do right, but you must always remember that almost is not enough with God. You can't almost do right, for almost doing right is still doing wrong. It doesn't matter what your intentions were, the only thing that truly matters is did you do what you were supposed to do? Many Christians think that God will be pleased because they almost did right, only to find out that almost doing right didn't please God. God doesn't expect you to almost do right, He expects you to do right.
You can almost get saved, but almost getting saved will still send you straight to Hell. Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a Christian, but that was not enough as he has been burning in Hell now for many years. Judas almost got saved, as he followed Christ for three years. Yet, though he kissed the door to Heaven, he still died and went to Hell because almost won't get anybody saved. You can go to church and do good your entire life, but that is not good enough with God. You must do right by accepting Christ as your Saviour if you want to go to Heaven. You can grow up in a Christian home, hear every sermon on salvation, do everything but accept Christ, and still go to Hell. Almost will never get you to Heaven. You must do what God tells you to do to get to Heaven.
Likewise, you can almost do right with the Scriptures, but if you only do almost, you are still doing wrong. Too many Christians almost do everything God tells them to do and think that God is pleased. Let me remind you, you can almost do everything, but almost is still disobedience. God doesn't expect an almost obedience, for an almost obedience is disobedience. God expects complete obedience to what He tells you to do, and nothing less.
Are you almost doing right? Have you almost done what it takes to get saved? Are you almost doing everything God tells you to do? Always remember that almost is not enough. The only way you can do enough is to completely follow everything God commands you to do. If you are doing almost, then you are not doing enough. I challenge you not to be an almost Christian, for almost Christians are disobedient Christians. Be a Christian who does everything God commands you to do, for this is the only way God will be pleased with what you do.