It's About Time
Twenty years ago, while I was working on road construction, I asked my boss for a day off work. He told me, "There's nothing around here that can't wait for another day." Six years later I was installing kitchen cabinets. I was expected to get an average kitchen finished in a day. There was no time to waste. Now I design computer systems for a large bank. If I can save one second from the average time it takes the front line staff to service a customer I will save my company about a million dollars a year. Needless to say, now I pay a lot more attention to time than ever before.
The Pace Picks Up
Isn't my experience a picture of what is happening in the world today? There was a time when time was not as precious. Every endeavor of man was done manually with simple tools. It took a lot of time to accomplish anything. Probably one of the first and greatest productivity improvements was when the printing press was invented to print the Bible. Then came the industrial revolution. The pace of the world began to increase. Today the world is going faster and faster.
Why is Time Precious?
Have you ever wondered if there is a reason why time is becoming so precious? Of course in any kind of business time is money but is that all there is to it? What can explain what is happening in the world? Where is it all headed? These questions are worth asking. In past centuries man could perhaps take time for granted but we cannot.
Time is Not Exhaustless
There are many things in the world that once seemed exhaustless. It seemed like there was no limit to earth's resources so man felt free to use and abuse them with no thought for the future. Only lately have we begun to realize the folly of such a mentality. What about time? Is it an exhaustless resource that can be used with impunity?
The Beginning of Time
The Bible tells us that time had a beginning. Before time began there was eternity past where God dwelt alone. But in eternity past God formed a plan. When God created the universe as the setting for carrying out His plan time began. Since then God has been working step by step to carry out His plan in time.
God's Plan
What is God's plan? In brief, God planned to make man as a vessel
(Rom. 9:23) to contain Him that He might be life and everything to man and that He might be expressed through man. A suitable vessel is made according to its intended contents. God created man in His own image and likeness
(Gen. 1:26) so that man could contain Him. Then God placed man in a garden in front of the tree of life which signified God Himself. God wanted man to take Him as life. But man chose to live by the knowledge of good and evil instead. Thus man rejected God and fell away from Him. God failed to accomplish His purpose in mankind in general.
The Failure of the Called Race
About 2,000 years after Adam God went a step further. He called Abraham to come out from his own people and land to be the head of a called out race. God's promise and desire was that the called race would possess and enjoy the good land which was a picture of the all-inclusive Christ being everything to man. Their enjoyment of the good land depended on their heart toward the Lord. To make long story short, the called race eventually lost the land. Even those who came back to it later fell far short of God's desire. God failed to get what He wanted in the called race.
A Life that Made It
After another 2,000 years God Himself came as a man, Christ Jesus. He lived a sinless life on earth and then died on the cross on man's behalf so that man could be forgiven of his sins and reconciled back to God. Now He comes into those who receive Him as the life-giving Spirit
(2 Cor. 13:5,
1 Cor. 15:45) and makes them His Body on earth, the church. The divine Spirit of life within the true believers is able to live a life that expresses God.
The Failure of the Church
With this provision the church should be the pure testimony and expression of God on this earth. Instead the church has become a mixture. It contains some divine reality but all the world's ways, philosophies, and even sins are also in the church. No Christian group has accomplished God's purpose. The very fact that the church has been divided into so many denominations and sects is its biggest failure. God failed to gain His desire in the church.
God's Call Today
Now it is another 2,000 years after the church was formed. Today God is calling for overcomers
(Rev. 2:7,
11,
17,
26;
3:5,
12,
21). In every age God did gain some individuals who answered His call but in this age God is seeking a good number of overcomers who will fully accomplish His purpose. In the overcomers God will at last gain all He desires in man.
What happens when God's purpose is fulfilled?
It's simple, time runs out for this world. Don't think that the time left for this world is determined by something as remote as the amount of hydrogen left in the sun. It is determined by the time it takes for God to accomplish His purpose. So time is not a renewable resource. Its value follows the laws of supply and demand just like so many other things. Time is not a renewable resource. Its value is increasing because it is running out.
When Time Runs Out
Time is precious in business because the opportunity to make money in any venture only lasts for a
limited time. Similarly, the opportunity to receive God's salvation does not last forever. We do not know when our time on this earth will be over. Then it will be too late. Neither do we know when time will run out for the world in general. When the wickedness on the earth became intolerable the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" and judged that world. If the evil and injustice of this world bothers you, consider how much it offends God whose holiness and righteousness are perfect. Soon He will come again in judgement.
Now is the Time
The best time to receive the Lord is right now. Don't spend any more time without Him. Open your heart and say to Him, "Lord Jesus I open to You. Forgive me for not coming to You sooner. Lord Jesus! I need You! Lord, save me. Come into me. Be real to me. Lord Jesus! Show me Your purpose. Show me what You are doing on earth today. Lord, make me an overcomer who goes all the way with You. Amen."