Healing Rays of Righteousness

The same God who created time and worked in time, sending his Son in the fullness of time to rescue, redeem, and adopt us, as His children, will someday say with a trumpet shout, time is ended, “There will be no more delay!”  (Revelation 10:6). But, more likely, before God’s final shout, He will whisper to you during one heartbeat moment, “Your time on earth is ended. Come home.”

That is why the apostle Paul writes, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2). He also wrote, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:10-11).

God created time and gives it to us human beings as His gift to us, heartbeat by heartbeat. Time is a precious package of life, individually gift-wrapped by God and sent to us, heartbeat by heartbeat. And what we do with this gift of time very directly shapes our future destination in an eternal world of either life, light, and love in God’s Kingdom or the opposite realities in Satan’s Kingdom. What future reality are you presently preparing for?

The passing of time, which we call aging, is not just an issue for the elderly, it is an urgent issue for all of us, whatever our calendar age. Unfortunately, we tend to join in our culture’s massive effort to hide and deny the evidence of body aging. We spend millions of dollars on cosmetics to keep us looking young. We pluck or dye our gray hairs. We pay for surgical facelifts to reverse the aging process. But it is all in vain. Time marches on towards its end, and so do we.

The apostle Paul admonished the Ephesian Christians, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

When confronted with this truth by God’s Spirit, many say, “Lord, I understand what you are saying to me and what I need to do. Sometime, Lord, I will do that. Sometime I will become a Christian. Sometime I will turn my life over to you, be baptized, and commit myself to membership with your people, the church. Yes, Lord, sometime I will get around to accepting your invitation. But right now, I am too busy enjoying all that is available to me in this world.”

Many a marriage relationship has crashed, causing immense pain and suffering to family and children, because a spouse, or both, have said, “Sometime soon, Lord, I am going to take my marriage vows seriously and work at building a love relationship that endures. Sometime I am going to be the dad or mother my children need me to be. Yes, Lord, sometime I will do that, but right now I am just too busy enhancing my career, trying to get ahead in this world, preparing for my family’s future.”

Some years ago, there was a popular musician by the name of Jim Croce. He wrote a song entitled, “Time in a Bottle,” in which he said he was going to put “time” in a bottle. He was going to put a cork in the bottle and bottle up “some time.” Then when he needed “some time” for his family, or with his friends, he could uncork the bottle and take “some time” out to enjoy life with them.

He was foolishly planning to bottle us some “time” so he would have “time” when he needed or wanted to use it. However, it was less than twelve months from the day he recorded the song that he was killed in a plane crash, and his bottle of “sometime” was smashed to pieces.

The sad truth is that bottled “sometime” is seldom, if ever, used as was planned. Today is the time that God has given us. “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Today is the day we hold in our hands. As Bill and Gloria Gaither sing so beautifully; “We have this moment to hold in our hands, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand. Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.”

My friend, now is the time to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim  In the light of His glory and grace.” (Song by Helen Lemmel). Now is the time to serve the King of kings and Lord of lords! Now is the time to prepare for our future life in the timeless world of eternal love in God’s Kingdom.

What do you want to accomplish before your time in this world of time is ended? How do you want people to remember you? What are you doing about it today? How are you using God’s gift of “Time”?

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 2, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley