[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Friday, February 8, 2013

[Paul]

Hello and good day, morning, afternoon or evening wherever you live in this world.  Here in the Americas, it's almost time to retire for the evening, whereas in other parts of the world it's already Saturday, whether that be morning or afternoon.  In any case I hope that your day went well or is going well.

Waldo Spear, someone I know nothing about, contributed this day's article entitled "No Other Time," rendered as follows:

The mystery of time has captured men's thoughts from the beginning of history.

Solomon said that to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.

Benjamin Franklin once remarked that we guard well our time, for it is the only ingredient of life.

C.S. Lewis declared our future is what we are all rushing into at the rate of 60 minutes an hour.

Nothing is able to impede the relentless march of time.  From the cradle to the grave, time circumscribes our whole being.  As the great hymn writer poetically echoed:

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away:
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Time is not only persistent; it is mysterious.  When did time begin? When will it end? From the Scriptures, we know that time began at creation, for "in the beginning" everything was created by God (Genesis 1).

At some point in God's sovereign plan, the Scriptures also tell us, time will cease.  The God who created the heavens and the earth, at the beginning of time, has said that they will one day be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth, and this age of time will come to an end (Revelation 10:6, 21:1).

Time is the great parenthesis between two mighty acts of creation!

But time is not fully explored until we recognize its momentous significance! During the time that each person dwells upon this planet, he is called upon to make a decision that will determine his eternal destiny.  How that choice is made here and now will have everlasting consequences.

God has given us the Bible so that we might make our decision in line with His will.  The Scriptures tell us:  "The Lord is ... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).  God translated man's willingness to repent into the most wonderful act of love.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

It is the response we make to Jesus Christ in time that determines our eternal destiny.  The only way that you and I as sinners may become acceptable before God and be assured of spending eternity with Him is by receiving the full pardon for our sins which was secured by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection.

It is a choice that each person must make, a choice that may soon slip away:

The clock of life is wound but once.
And no man has the power
To tell just where the hands will stop,
At late or early hour.
To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,
To lose one's health is more;
To lose one's soul is such a loss
As no man can restore.

The present only is our own,

To seek to do God's will;
Tomorrow holds no promise,
The clock may then be still.

With our faith in Christ we can face time and eternity without fear, knowing that God is with us both now and forever.  If we believe in Him, let us redeem the time, using all that God has given us to share what Christ has done for us.  But if you have not yet believed, there is no better time, and there may be no other time than today.

Wow, but what an article! I hope that, even if you are a born-again Christian and have based your foundation of your faith solidly on the Rock, that this article gave you perhaps a new or fresh insight.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul