The element of time is one thing we all share in our lives. Be it the ticking scoreboard when our team is behind in the big game, or the alarm clock going off early in the morning of the big day, or the minutes dragging by before the time clock eventually signifying quitting time on Friday and a big weekend, we all know the ups and downs of living by the clock.
On occasion, we all want time to speed up. When I was a child, it seemed like it took forever for the last day of school to roll around. The same was true for Christmas. As a teenager, whenever I had a big date on Friday night with the young lady who was to eventually be my wife, the week before seemed to drag by. Even now, as a working man, it can seem like a long time between vacations.
On other occasions, we want time to slow down. As a child, when summer did roll around, I wanted it to last forever. As a teenager, when that date did arrive, it always seems to end too early. I wanted it to go on for a much longer time. And even today, when my and wife and I do take time off for vacation, I want to see it last as long as it can. Sadly, all too soon, vacations inevitably come to an end.
Alas! Our lives are so often ruled by the tyranny of the clock! We watch it anxiously, willing it either to speed up or to slow down! Yet, in the end, we are unable to influence it in its inexorable march forward, the speed of which it alone controls!
But what would we do if there was no more time? This was the question I was confronted with this morning. I got up and began my day as I normally do. After getting cleaned up and dressed, I had breakfast, brushed my teeth, gathered my things, and proceeded out the door.
It was only as I was driving to the office that I happened to actually glance down at my watch. (Up until then, throughout the morning, I had been checking the time by the various clocks positioned in around our home.) I was surprised to see that my watch had stopped at around 7:46. Now I do not know if that was last night or this morning, as I have a dial watch and it does not track am or pm.
I wondered which it was. What was I doing last evening at 7:46 pm? I remembered that I had just come home from Wednesday night worship, and had removed my watch and placed on the dresser. What was I doing at 7:46 am this morning? Again I remembered that I had been scurrying around the house with my watch on my wrist (even though I clearly had not yet looked at it.)
I concluded that I must stop by the store where I acquired my watch to get a new battery. Put simply: I needed to find a way to get time back. In the future, just as in the past, I knew I would need more time on my watch!
This last consideration notwithstanding, I was faced with the fact that, at one of those two earlier points in my past, time had stopped! At least on my watch it had. Of course, that raised the question: What if time had literally run out at one of those moments? What if the end had come? Dare I say it; but what if my own personal time had run out? Would I have been ready at that moment to stand before my lord and savior, Jesus Christ?
For that matter, what if the long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ had unfolded at one of those very moments? Would I have been prepared to meet Him? Would I be unashamed of what I had accomplished for Him and in His name? Or would I wish for more time to go back and do more for Him than I had done?
In light of these thoughts, I challenge you to remember two things. The first is the admonition of Holy Scripture itself, which tells us in the New Testament Book of Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 27, that each and every person is destined to die and face the judgment of Almighty God. So, it is incumbent on us to be ready for that day before it ever comes.
And the second reminder is from the words to the great hymn by James M. Black titled “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder”:
1 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,
and time shall be no more,
and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
when the saved of earth shall gather
over on the other shore,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
2 On that bright and cloudless morning
when the dead in Christ shall rise,
and the glory of His resurrection share;
when His chosen ones shall gather
to their home beyond the skies,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]
3 Let us labor for the Master
from the dawn till setting sun,
let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
then when all of life is over,
and our work on earth is done,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]
Along with the refrain, verses one and two are words are encouragement and celebration. Well, they should be; for what a day, glorious day, that will be!
But verse three is more of an admonition. There will come a point for all of us when time shall be no more. For this reason, we should work to make the utmost of every possible moment, each and every day. This means getting the lost out of life, to be sure. But it also means doing the most we can to prepare for the life to come.
Little wonder, then, that the Apostle Paul told the Christians at Ephesus (in his letter to them in the New Testament, chapter 5, verse 16) that they should redeem their time. In truth, our time is one of the most valuable commodities we possess. Once gone, it can never be reclaimed. So make the most of every moment. For your sake; for the sake of others; and above all, for Christ’s sake!
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/9-27.htm.
https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-16.htm.
HYMN SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/when_the_trumpet_of_the_lord_shall_black.
On occasion, we all want time to speed up. When I was a child, it seemed like it took forever for the last day of school to roll around. The same was true for Christmas. As a teenager, whenever I had a big date on Friday night with the young lady who was to eventually be my wife, the week before seemed to drag by. Even now, as a working man, it can seem like a long time between vacations.
On other occasions, we want time to slow down. As a child, when summer did roll around, I wanted it to last forever. As a teenager, when that date did arrive, it always seems to end too early. I wanted it to go on for a much longer time. And even today, when my and wife and I do take time off for vacation, I want to see it last as long as it can. Sadly, all too soon, vacations inevitably come to an end.
Alas! Our lives are so often ruled by the tyranny of the clock! We watch it anxiously, willing it either to speed up or to slow down! Yet, in the end, we are unable to influence it in its inexorable march forward, the speed of which it alone controls!
But what would we do if there was no more time? This was the question I was confronted with this morning. I got up and began my day as I normally do. After getting cleaned up and dressed, I had breakfast, brushed my teeth, gathered my things, and proceeded out the door.
It was only as I was driving to the office that I happened to actually glance down at my watch. (Up until then, throughout the morning, I had been checking the time by the various clocks positioned in around our home.) I was surprised to see that my watch had stopped at around 7:46. Now I do not know if that was last night or this morning, as I have a dial watch and it does not track am or pm.
I wondered which it was. What was I doing last evening at 7:46 pm? I remembered that I had just come home from Wednesday night worship, and had removed my watch and placed on the dresser. What was I doing at 7:46 am this morning? Again I remembered that I had been scurrying around the house with my watch on my wrist (even though I clearly had not yet looked at it.)
I concluded that I must stop by the store where I acquired my watch to get a new battery. Put simply: I needed to find a way to get time back. In the future, just as in the past, I knew I would need more time on my watch!
This last consideration notwithstanding, I was faced with the fact that, at one of those two earlier points in my past, time had stopped! At least on my watch it had. Of course, that raised the question: What if time had literally run out at one of those moments? What if the end had come? Dare I say it; but what if my own personal time had run out? Would I have been ready at that moment to stand before my lord and savior, Jesus Christ?
For that matter, what if the long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ had unfolded at one of those very moments? Would I have been prepared to meet Him? Would I be unashamed of what I had accomplished for Him and in His name? Or would I wish for more time to go back and do more for Him than I had done?
In light of these thoughts, I challenge you to remember two things. The first is the admonition of Holy Scripture itself, which tells us in the New Testament Book of Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 27, that each and every person is destined to die and face the judgment of Almighty God. So, it is incumbent on us to be ready for that day before it ever comes.
And the second reminder is from the words to the great hymn by James M. Black titled “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder”:
1 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,
and time shall be no more,
and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
when the saved of earth shall gather
over on the other shore,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder,
when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.
2 On that bright and cloudless morning
when the dead in Christ shall rise,
and the glory of His resurrection share;
when His chosen ones shall gather
to their home beyond the skies,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]
3 Let us labor for the Master
from the dawn till setting sun,
let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
then when all of life is over,
and our work on earth is done,
and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. [Refrain]
Along with the refrain, verses one and two are words are encouragement and celebration. Well, they should be; for what a day, glorious day, that will be!
But verse three is more of an admonition. There will come a point for all of us when time shall be no more. For this reason, we should work to make the utmost of every possible moment, each and every day. This means getting the lost out of life, to be sure. But it also means doing the most we can to prepare for the life to come.
Little wonder, then, that the Apostle Paul told the Christians at Ephesus (in his letter to them in the New Testament, chapter 5, verse 16) that they should redeem their time. In truth, our time is one of the most valuable commodities we possess. Once gone, it can never be reclaimed. So make the most of every moment. For your sake; for the sake of others; and above all, for Christ’s sake!
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/9-27.htm.
https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-16.htm.
HYMN SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/when_the_trumpet_of_the_lord_shall_black.