My wife tells wonderful stories of being raised on a steady diet of simple Sunday School songs that were not only doctrinally rich, they also stuck in your mind like glue. I didn’t encounter such songs until I was in my early 20’s but their simple message and catchy tune can bring a smile to a believer of any age. One of my early favourites was called “The Countdown Song”. In one of the verses, it reads: “Soon will the trumpet sound, and we’ll rise off the ground; with Christ forever will we be. Children, where will you be, throughout eternity? The countdown’s getting lower every day!”
That song sums up a simple truth: the countdown is indeed getting lower every day. For believers, that is exciting. However, this leads (or should lead) to believers asking themselves a question. If the Lord will indeed catch His bride away soon, how should I be spending my days? Ephesians 5 leaves us in no doubt because verses 15 to 17 say this: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” A similar admonition is given in Colossians 4:5: “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” In both passages, we see reference to a “walk”. In other words, how we live.
Today, spiritually speaking, we also see winds blowing. However, they are not necessarily refreshing winds, but harsh winds of evil that are blowing across our nations. Perhaps we feel victimised by them, particularly if those winds are blowing believers into the fires of persecution, suffering and evil.
Because of the prevalence of evil in Paul’s day (and ours) the danger is that the sight of evil may cool the love and diminish the zeal of the believer to contend for the faith and proclaim the gospel. Hence the need for a determined eagerness in the face of such winds. You see, the Greek word for “time” is referring to opportunities. In other words, be alert to God’s will and be ready to grab those opportunities when presented. Think of a shrewd merchant who sees opportunity for a profit and grabs hold of it. As C T Studd once said, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Dear believer, you were born for such a time as this. You may feel like that runner – alone, bruised, hurt, defeated, not knowing how on earth you are going to make it across that finish line. But God did not send you to this age so you could simply start the race and then quit. He sent you here so you could run the race He set for you and grab hold of the prize. So, the message is clear: fix your eyes on Jesus, take the opportunities presented and run, dear Christian, run. The finish line is just ahead.
3 comments:
The clothes are all dirty and will be washed. After being washed they will be hung out to dry embraced by the warmth of our loving GOD to be refreshed and worn again.
I loved this article Scott....I especially like the quote of the Tanzania marathon runner in the 1968 Olympics who finished the race banged up wounded and bleeding way after all the fans had left the stadium. He was asked by a reporter why did you finish the race way after it was over? He said, "my country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."
Indeed.....The finish line is just ahead :)
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