Now Is The Time!
Thank you for joining me. Our subject today is one that is timeless and yet we spend so little time preparing for it. Praying the Lord will give new revelation and understanding to you. Please share with those you feel would benefit from reading this post. Blessings in the name of Jesus.
I will begin by sharing the transcript of an interview given to a young man by William Gladstone, a four time Prime Minister of England. (christinprophecy.org: Lamb and lion Ministries).
A Remarkable Interview
“What do you hope to do when you graduate from college?” Gladstone asked.
The young man replied, “I hope to attend law school, sir, just as you did.”
“That’s a noble goal,” said Gladstone, “Then what?”
“I hope to practice law and make a good name for myself defending the poor and the outcasts of society, just as you did.”
“That’s a noble purpose,” replied Gladstone. “Then what?”
“Well, sir, I hope one day to stand for Parliament and become a servant of the people, even as you did.”
“That too is a noble hope. What then?” asked Gladstone.
“I would hope to be able to serve in the Parliament with great distinction, evidencing integrity and a concern for justice — even as you did.”
“What then?” asked Gladstone.
“I would hope to serve the government as Prime Minister with the same vigor, dedication, vision, and integrity as you did.”
“And what then?” asked Gladstone.
“I would hope to retire with honors and write my memoirs — even as you are presently doing — so that others could learn from my mistakes and triumphs.”
“All of that is very noble,” said Gladstone, “and then what?”
The young man thought for a moment. “Well, sir, I suppose I will then die.”
“That’s correct,” said Gladstone. “And then what?”
The young man looked puzzled. “Well, sir,” he answered hesitantly, “I’ve never given that any thought.”
“Young man,” Gladstone responded, “the only advice I have for you is for you to go home, read your Bible, and think about eternity.”
This interview brings home a very poignant point. How many never think about what will take place when our earthly life ends?
“Later, I have time.” This is the mindset we all express in our daily lives. We assume we will have “later” however, “later” might not be an option. How should knowing that affect how and when we make decisions?
Before making decisions, we need to ask, “Will there be a later?” “How will my life be altered if “later” never comes?” “Later” is not guaranteed. Tomorrow is not promised. How might our priorities need to be changed if tomorrow does not come? We need to change our “later” mindset to a “now” mindset if we are going to live with the right priorities.
When talking about spiritual matters, it is vital for us to understand that our “later” mindset could have very dire consequences! Since we are eternal beings, the choices we make will influence us eternally! If we hang onto our “later” mindset regarding accepting Christ, when we expect to wait until the 12th hour to make the decision, then we die in the 11th hour - we will be eternally separated from God. Our mindset must be set on the eternal, not the temporal because we are eternal beings and our earthly life is but a moment.
The Lord actually has a lot to say concerning the importance of having a “today” or “now” mindset.
Let’s begin with 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT), “For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation.” The word' ‘time’ from the Greek word kairos means: a fixed and definite tiime, (the decisive epoch, right time), waited for. The word, ‘day’ us the time when anyone is or can be saved. "‘Salvation”, solteria, means: deliverance, preservation, and safety. The “day” of salvation therefore is the time in which the offer of salvation is made. If we use the Greek meanings to expound on this scripture, it could read like this: “God says, ”At this fixed, definite, decisively right time, I heard you. On the day on which anyone is or can be saved, delivered, preserved, and have safety, I have helped you. Indeed, this time, the present time, now, today is the favorable, acceptable, and right time for you to be saved, delivered, preserved and have safety.” This is powerful!
The time to act upon the urging of the Holy Spirit is always now. Do not delay! With our temporal mindset, we put off till tomorrow what we should do today.
We do not control time! Especially, the time which we have to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
It is human nature to not think about how short our time is on earth. Whether we live one year or one hundred years, that time is but a blink of the eye compared to eternity.
2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18 reads, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Our time on the planet is referred to as ‘momentary and transient’, or for a season and temporary.
Psalm 103:15 and 16, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
Psalm 39:4 and 5, “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” Fleeting in verse 4 means: ceasing to be or transient. Verse 5 very plainly states that our earthly lifetime is a mere breath. A ‘handbreadth’ is the measurement of the width of four fingers - very short.
We are created by God in His own image. He is spirit and eternal. (Deuteronomy 33:27a and John 4:24.) Therefore we also are spirit and eternal beings. Here is the thing though, where we spend eternity, is totally dependent upon whether or not we choose to receive Christ as our Savior. John 3:16-18 expresses, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” ‘Condemned’ in verse 18 means condemning and decreeing or inflicting penalty. The ones who are condemned are so because they did not accept the sacrifice Jesus made.
Thinking about these scriptures in light of the temporal mindset we have, brings to mind the story of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-12. Five of the virgins were not prepared to welcome the bridegroom, they thought they would have time to get the oil for their lamps later. When they returned from getting the oil, it was too late. The door was shut and they were not permitted to enter the wedding hall.
Look at James 4:13-17 with me, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Death can take us at any age or time. Rachel Scott’s life was taken at seventeen years of age, in a school shooting. We are hearing daily reports of young athletes dying from cardiac arrest. I officiated at a funeral for an infant who died from SIDS, and assisted at a funeral for a nineteen year old boy and two of his friends who drowned when their canoe overturned. We also hear of fatal weather disasters, war victims, earthquakes, fatal automobile accidents, and so on.
I believe the young are particularly vulnerable to thinking these things will never happen to them and that they have a long life to live.
One thing we can be absolutely sure of is that our physical bodies will die. Here is what the Scripture reveals. Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 2a, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die.” Knowing that our spirits enter into eternity when our earthly body dies speaks strongly of the necessity for our greater focus to be on our spiritual life. Psalm 139:16 (NASB20), “Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Notice, the scripture says every one of the days ‘ordained’ meaning, in His divine purpose, were written in His book before we were born! We have a beginning date and we have an ending date established by His purpose. We do not know when that ending date will come.
How are we going to live to prepare for eternity? Since at the ‘end game’ of our earthly life, each of us will be entering eternity (either eternal life or eternal death), we must be eternity minded now.
Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” When we set our minds on ‘heavenly things’, we are setting our minds on those things which are eternal.
How should we live and Who should we seek?
Galatians 1:10, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Romans 14:8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”
Having an all consuming focus on our temporal earthly goods and life is grasping vapor.
Each of us will, one day, enter into one of only two options: eternal life or eternal death (a never ending separation from God and all that He is. Love, light, peace, joy…)
I will end today with these two sets of scripture:
Hebrews 3:7-13, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.' 11 As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'" 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Today, if you hear and refuse to respond, you take a chance on losing that opportunity forever.
Finally, James 4: 13 and 14, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Our mindset needs to be set on eternity, not the temporal.
What have we gleaned from the Word today? God wants us to respond now or today to His Word, nudging, and provision because that is how we will be secure and not have to worry about uncertain or unexpected events in our lives. We are eternal beings and that part of our existence will never end.
Keep your focus on the eternal!
Respond immediately to the Lord!
Grab on to an eternal mindset and do not let go!
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the Eastern Standard Version
NLT New Living Translation
NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020