Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The priceless gift

   Out of all of the existing precious metals such as platinum, gold, and silver, and of all the expensive things we could acquire like mansions, yachts, and private jets there is one thing that is much more valuable than all of that. This one thing is so limited that we never even know from one day to the next if the supply will suddenly run out. Its price is truly invaluable and this priceless commodity is irreplaceable, yet if you are reading this then you have access to it. Yes, that’s right! You have, right now, in your possession the most crucial, indispensable, priceless thing that there is and that vital resource is Time. Time is something that every living person has and yet it is the one thing that we cannot get back once we use it. Everything else is replaceable, but when your time is up, then you cannot get any more. You cannot buy it, sell it, borrow it or steal it and once yours is gone, you’ll either forever regret or forever be grateful for how you used your time. Even time itself is limited, in that, one day time will exist no more and eternity will begin. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?”  As we understand from this passage that we are allotted a space of time with which we do every single thing that there is to be done. We only get so much time, some more than others, and within it we live and die. If you stop and think about how much time that you have already spent, knowing that you only have a limited quantity, then are you really satisfied with what you have done up to this point?  If not then, what would you do differently? The most pressing choice ever is whether or not you are ready for your time to die. If your time were to suddenly end today and you were thrown into eternity, then would you be forever joyful or forever sorrowful for your spent time? No matter how bad your past is, you can be eternally happy! Right now is the time to ready yourself for the end of your time. Not later, now. Right this very second. Are ready to die? If not, then stop reading and make that eternity changing decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. It is very simple, you just have to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for all your sins and then He arose from the dead to eternally be that living sacrifice for you. You must confess to Him and repent of your sins and He will come into your heart and change your eternal destination from Hell to Heaven. And no longer will you have to worry about the end of your time.

  So you say “well I have already done that, I am a blood bought child of God.” Then praise the Lord you are on your way to Heaven, but if you are still reading this then you are not there yet! So the question is to every Christian: What are you doing with your most valuable resource? What have you done for God, the one who changed your time here on earth from Hell doomed to Heaven destined? I think some the best advice for us as Christians can be found in this passage by J. Oswald Sanders, he says “It is often helpful to keep records of how each hour in a given week is spent, and then look at the record in the light of scriptural priorities. The results may be shocking. Often the record shows that we have much more time available for Christian service than we imagine. Suppose that we allot ourselves a generous eight hours a day for sleep (few need more than that), three hours for meals and conversation, ten hours for work and travel on five days. Still we have thirty five hours each week to fill. What happens to them? How are they invested? A person’s entire contribution to the kingdom of God may turn on how those hours are used. Certainly those hours determine whether life is commonplace or extraordinary.” It is a very sobering thought, so I am asking you, saint of God, how are using the time you do have for Him? Jesus gave us His all when laid down His life on Calvary and we must commit our all to Him. He wants nothing less than our best! It is “all or nothing” when serving the Lord because we are not going to accidently fall into Heaven. God requires that we be faithful and that we give Him our all, which means our time, our effort, our devotion, our thoughts, our plans, our dreams, our desires, our ambitions, our heart, soul, mind and strength. When we stop and think about our time as a precious commodity, then really there is no better investment than to give it to God. Nowhere else can one get eternal returns, and reward that is out of this world! So I charge each and every one of us, let’s give our time to God today!