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The Time That Binds...
(NOTE: Please forgive me folks if the words in this don't come out right, but I felt I had to write this. This isn't easy, but this has been on my heart since yesterday.)
On August 28th, 2011, my father slipped into eternity. Around 10 am that Sunday morning, he was still alive; but by 11:30, amidst a group of EMS personnel who tried to save his life, my dad had passed away.
Once again, my heart feels as if a sledgehammer has struck it full force.
Yes, he was saved; but not by much, as time would be counted in Heaven. Dad was saved in March of this year. With that in mind, if a thousand years is as one day to the Lord, then 5 months is barely a blink of an eye for the creator of the universe:
"But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:8-9, NASB, emphasis mine)
It was cut very close.
Yes, God's timing is indeed perfect, but He will not override a person's free will of whether to choose him or not. Thankfully, my dad's heart finally softened enough to accept His precious gift of Salvation. But he did not have much time left to do so:
“LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath." (Psalm 39:4-5, NASB, emphasis mine)
It is indeed common to think that we have more time than we actually do; we as human beings cannot conceive easily the fact that one day, the end of our journey here on earth will come to an end. To imagine something like that happening to us personally seems a bit surreal to us as a race until it actually does happen, and then the shock of it hits us.
But scripture reminds us:
"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." (Hebrews 9:27-28, NASB, emphasis mine)
Yes, we are saved and the Rapture is coming. The times around us, the very lateness of the hour confirms that soon, the Tribulation will fall upon this planet and the final stroke of "The Great Experiment Of The Ages" will be executed. But though we have the promise that we will be included in the Rapture should we die before it happens, none of us have any guarantee whatsoever that we will live to see the Rapture.
In fact, none of us are guaranteed that we will live to see tomorrow:
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4: 13-15, NASB, emphasis mine)
While it is true that we have everlasting life, we do not have everlasting opportunities to serve the Lord while we are yet here on this Earth. Once we stand before the Lord at His Bema Seat, there will be no more opportunity to add to whatever service we have performed for him on earth, nor any opportunity to do better or build more upon the foundation that Jesus Christ has laid:
"According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, NASB, emphasis mine)
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10, NASB, emphasis mine)
Even more so, we do not have eternal opportunities to serve those around us, saved and unbeliever alike. They too have limited amounts of time in this world, and once those days are filled, they are called away from this mortal coil, saved or not.
Once they are gone.. they are gone:
"And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy. Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." (Revelation 22:10-11, NASB, emphasis mine)
So, what are we to do?
We are to do as the Lord has commanded us:
"And He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40, NASB, emphasis mine)
If we love the Lord, then this is what we are commanded to do:
"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."(Matthew 28:18-20, NASB, emphasis mine)
"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15, NASB)
"and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:46-48, NASB, emphasis mine)
And if we love our fellow man, then we again do as the Lord instructs us to:
"But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same." (Luke 10: 29-37, NASB, emphasis mine)
In this time before the Rapture, we are indeed being tested and the rubber of our faith is being ground against severely by the road of this life. The Lord promised in scripture that he would again shake the heavens and the earth once more before he comes:
"See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:25-29, NASB, emphasis mine)
We have so little time left, and the clock is ticking.
As for my family: we have been struck a heavy blow by the passing of my dad. My heart hurts and my eyes are sore from the tears I have cried, and we miss my dad very much. But yet though we have been hit very hard, Meg and I will continue on serving the Lord.
YBIC,
-Robert
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Originally Posted by myinnuendo999
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