Motivation
Five
Years from Now
Five
years from now where will you be and what will you be doing? If the
answer is, “I want to be doing something different from what I am
doing now, the question becomes, “How will you spend time today to
move you in that direction?”
God has a
purpose and plan for each of our lives. But we don’t just happen to
stumble on to that plan without effort. Becoming all God wants us
to be involves spending time each day to move us in the direction of
our goals. If we see a big discrepancy between where we say we want
to be in five years and how we are spending today, we need to
carefully examine our lives to see if we really are using our time
the way God wants us to.
So,
before you go to bed tonight, take ten minutes to write out what you
think God wants you to be doing five years from now. Then, plan how
you’re going to redeem the time.
An
African Parable
An
African parable teaches us a valuable lesson about motivation.
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must
run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every
morning a lion wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the
slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
So it
doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun
comes up you had better be running.
Well,
lots of Christians go through life with the attitude that time is
just not that important. They don’t even seem to have as much
motivation as an African beast when it comes to using their energy
to be the best they can be for the Lord.
God
teaches us many lessons through nature. These animals teach us that
we must use all our energies to serve the Lord. Let’s take this as
a valuable reminder to redeem the time.
You
Can’t Give Away Your Wasted Time
Someone
said,
"I
wish I could stand on a busy corner and beg people to give me all
their wasted hours." What a profound thought that is!
Time
management experts generally agree that most people will waste at
least two hours each day. But, the saddest part is that most people
either don't seem to realize how much time they waste or they just
don't seem to care.
As
Christians, God calls us to a higher standard when it comes to using
our time. We are accountable to Him. He commands us to redeem the
time, that is, to apply each moment to its greatest possible use for
His honor and glory. Even if they wanted to, none of those people
on the street corner could give you any of their wasted time. Only
God can give us time. And only we can make sure we redeem the time.
The
Boeing Numbers
How often
have you started your day by counting through the Boeing numbers?
Just like the Boeing airplanes your effort to get up starts at 727.
But you hit the snooze till 737, 10 more minutes and it’s a 747!
Till finally about 757 you jump out of bed, you rush out the door
late for work not spending time with the Lord.
Did you
know Scripture has a specific caution against snooze buttons?
Proverbs 26:14 says, “As the door turneth upon its hinges so does
the slothful man upon his bed.” What an accurate picture of wasting
time rolling back and forth in a wrestling match with our sheets.
Tomorrow morning break the snooze habit. When the clock goes off,
go ahead and get up, because up is where you have already determined
you need to be if you are going to redeem the time.
Stay
on Target
Welcome
to archery class! For this lesson you will need your bow, some
arrows, and a blindfold. First set up the target 50 feet away.
Next pick up your bow and arrow. Then have your partner apply the
blindfold and spin you around. Finally, shoot the arrow directly
into the bull's eye. Any questions?
Grumble
“Um,
ma’am, how do you expect us to hit a target that we can't see?”
You
might think that archery teacher was very unwise. But perhaps you
are shooting for a target you can't see. If you have never clearly
identified your goals and committed them to writing, then you too
are shooting for a target you have never seen, and your likelihood
of achieving your goal is about as good as that of a blindfolded
archer. Prayerfully, committing your time to specific written goals
is one way to stay on target and to redeem the time.
Baskin Robins
Two little robins sat perched in a
tree as a farmer plowed his field leaving behind rows of delicious
worms in the fresh soil. As the farmer left, they immediately began
feasting upon the vulnerable little creatures. They ate so many
they soon found their stuffed bodies couldn't
even fly so they decided to lie down and bask in the hot sun.
Moments later a cat sprang out from the bushes and devoured the
little sunbathers. As he finished the last morsel he said to
himself.. “mmm ...I sure do like baskin robins!”
There are things we like, and things
we don't
like. Redeeming the time means learning to do the things we are
supposed to do when we are supposed to do them regardless of what we
like or don't
like. The path of least resistance seldom if ever leads to God's
best. God's
best requires discipline and sacrifice in our use of time. Self
control and self denial are not optional add-ons to the Christian
life. Not only are they keys to good time management but they're
vital to spiritual growth even when they mean avoiding "baskin
robins".
Failure Can Bring Success
What makes the difference between
average achievers and high producers? What separates those who do
great things for God from those who live lives of quiet desperation?
It is the way they respond to
failure. Those who never experience true success, miss it because
they have not properly responded to failures which God has allowed
them to experience on the road to their success. There is no
achievement without failure along the way.
God never promised every project we
try would succeed in the eyes of man. He doesn’t expect everything
you touch to turn to gold. So don’t waste time lamenting your
failures. Learn from them and get your next assignment from God.
It is okay to fail, because if you aren’t failing you probably
aren’t growing as a Christian and having much of an impact for the
Lord either.
Learning to not waste time in the wake
of a failure is a necessary skill for redeeming the time.
Excuse Yourself
From time to time we all find
ourselves in situations we wish we could escape because they are a
waste of our time. Perhaps it’s a social function or a committee
meeting you volunteered to participate in but now you really wish
you hadn't.
What can you do in those cases?
Sometimes it may be impossible for you
to tactfully escape. And certainly if you have given your word you
should keep it and do what you've
promised. But in other cases, the most God-honoring thing to do is
to politely excuse yourself and move on to something else. God
holds us accountable for our time and He expects us to use it well.
So, next time you get caught in an
over-long meeting or trapped into the second hour of your neighbor's
home videos, just remember, learning to gracefully excuse yourself
from time-wasting activities is not being rude, its redeeming the
time.
The Early Bird
You've heard it said the
early bird catches the worm. But people who arrive early can catch
a lot of other good things as well. That's why whenever possible
you should consider scheduling your appointments early in the day.
The reason is that the
first meeting is the least likely to be delayed. As the day
progresses, the chances of the person you are meeting with having
some crisis or interruption in their day increases. That means the
chance of their running late to see you increases as well.
Other benefits of being
first include the accountability of getting up earlier and the
ability to reschedule your meeting later in the day if you can't
make it.
In matters of showing
meekness and humility, Jesus said the last shall be first and the
first shall be last. But, when it comes to setting appointments,
the first shall be the ones who redeem the time.
Do
It Now
We often reach the end of our day with
a sense of frustration at the uncompleted goals we had set out to
accomplish. We determined that morning what was really important,
but as the day progressed, we let other things slip in and sidetrack
us from the main thing we set out to achieve. We retire at night
with a sense of defeat at that lingering unfinished project which
continues to shadow us and rob us of any real fulfillment or
achievement.
The way to break that cycle is by
doing the right thing right now. Go ahead and do the thing you'll
wish you had done at the end of the day. Make a deliberate choice,
an act of your will, that says, "I
will do the thing that needs to be done, and I will do it right now."
Satan's
way is to look for a more convenient time but God's
way is to redeem the time.
So, what should you be doing RIGHT NOW
if you are to redeem the time?
Do Right
The founder of a well
known Christian university is remembered for a simple two word quote
he often gave to his students. The little two word sermon was “Do
right”
A large part of
redeeming the time is simply doing the next right thing with each
moment of your time. It means striving to apply each moment of time
to its highest possible use. God has a perfect plan for you today.
You can picture this plan as several small assignments which will
make up your complete mission for the day. The key to having a
successful day, is just to have an accumulation of successful
smaller missions.
So ask yourself, what is
the next right thing I need to do? Going from one right thing to
the next throughout the day will give the results you desire at the
end of the day. And ending your day well is a good reward for
redeeming the time.
Amy Carmichael
In 1895 a young lady named Amy
Carmichael set sail from the comforts of the British Isles for the
remote land of India. She was beginning a journey that would last
the remaining 56 years of her life. During the coming years she
would care for more than 1,000 children who otherwise would have
faced a life with no hope followed by eternity without Christ. She
would also become one of the great writers of her day as she wrote
nearly three dozen books that continue to stir souls a century
later. Her life was characterized by total, humble obedience to
Christ and a deep desire to do all she could for Him.
Amy Carmichael once said "We
will have all eternity to celebrate the victory but only a few hours
before sunset."
Amy was right. Those "few
hours before sunset"
present the most precious resource God ever entrusted to us-our
time. Each of us is in a race with time. The challenge is to see
how much we can do for the Kingdom of God between now and the day we
die. To do that, we must begin right now, to zealously redeem the
time.
Read About Wise Heroes
An executive was interviewing a recent
college grad for a position in his office. In an attempt to find
out more about his personality, he asked "If you could have a
conversation with someone, living or dead, who would it be?"
"Duh ..." the applicant quickly
responded, "with the living one I guess."
That young man missed the point. But
the fact is we can learn a lot by studying the lives of those who
have gone before us. Great Christian men and women of the past all
have something in common. They used their time in meaningful ways.
Reading the biographies of great
Christians can give us insight and motivation to use our time in
significant ways as well.
Scripture says, he that walketh with
wise men shall be wise. Taking time to read about the heroes of our
faith is a great way to redeem the time.
How to be Wise
Would you like to be
wise? Would you like to have riches, honor, & life? The Bible says
we can have all of these if we learn to fear God. Proverbs tells us
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Furthermore,
Proverbs 22:4 says “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches,
and honour, and life.”
But what does it really
mean to fear God? The popular teaching today is that this fear is
simply a reverence & awe. But that definition is incomplete. We
experience reverence & awe when we look at the ocean or the Grand
Canyon but we don't fear them.
The fear of God must
include the realization that I am accountable to Him for how I spend
each moment of my life. Understanding that will make us careful in
how we use our time, which in turn will make us successful.
Learning to rightly fear God is not only the basis of wisdom, it is
also a guiding principle for redeeming the time.
Learning to Walk
Remember when you taught your child to
walk? You were so excited, you gathered the grandparents in the
living room and everyone clapped and cheered as the little one took
those first baby steps from mommy’s arms to daddy’s arms.
Did you teach your child to walk by
focusing on his failures or focusing on his successes? No parent
teaches his child to walk by saying, “OK kid, you’ve got 12 chances
to get this thing right, and if you keep on falling down we’re
giving up on you.”
No, we learn by failing. That
principle holds true in all of life. Many people never experience
God’s best for their lives because they focus on failure. Failure
is an event. It is not a person. We can fail many times and not be
a failure. No one is a failure until they stop using their time to
accomplish the thing God wants them to do.
Consistently focusing on our goals,
while learning from our failures, is God’s method of redeeming the
time.
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards was a man greatly
used of God to bring revival during the 1700's. As an evangelist,
pastor, and writer, he created many powerful messages, including "Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God",
which is still remembered as one of the greatest sermons of all
time.
One of the keys to Edwards’ fruitful
life was a set of 33 personal commitments, or "resolutions"
as he called them, which he made to keep himself from straying from
God. Many of these resolutions focused on his use of time. One of
them read: “Resolved never to lose one moment of time; but to
improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.”
Another read: “Resolved never to do
anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour
of my life.”
We would be wise to follow Mr.
Edwards’ commitments if we want to be used of God and if we desire
to redeem the time.
Walk With the Wise
A farmer was having trouble getting
his old mule to work when he heard it was qualifying day for the
Kentucky Derby. Deciding to try a different approach, he took the
mule down to the track where beautiful million dollar race horses
pranced about.
As the farmer approached the gate, a
race official scornfully asked, "You
want to enter him?"
The farmer replied, "Well,
I don't
figure he could win, but I thought the association might do him some
good."
The farmer understood a good time
management principle. We tend to become like those we associate
with. If we spend time with people whose focus is on immediate
pleasures and the things of this world we will often pick up their
values and priorities. Spending time with Godly people on the other
hand fulfills the scripture, "He
that walketh with wise men shall be wise."
Is there someone you could have lunch
with tomorrow who could inspire you to focus more on the things of
God. Spending time with the right people is a way to redeem the
time.
Michaelangelo
Michaelangelo spent four grueling
years on his back painting over four hundred larger than life
figures on the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel. The task was so demanding that when he finished friends
hardly recognized him because he had aged so much. When asked one
day why he was working so diligently in a dark corner of a chapel on
a painting no one would ever see, Michaelangelo replied, "God will
see"
You will likely be tempted today to
cut corners and take the easy way out of your work. Maybe, you
think, no one will ever know. But as Michaelangelo, said, God will
see and that's really what matters most. That's why we should
consider the words of Scripture to do our work heartily as unto the
Lord and not unto men. Doing our work to please God instead of man
means we are redeeming the time.
Frugal with Time
The Gospel of Mark gives us our most
compact look at the life of Jesus. In 16 chapters we are given a
fast-paced summary of the key events in our Lord’s life.
One word that constantly appears to
describe the ministry of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is “straightway” or
immediately. We are given a picture of Jesus completing one task
and immediately moving on to the next.
It was not the nature of Jesus to
linger and tarry after His work was done. He had a sense of mission
and He knew He had to be about His Father’s business.
Jesus gave us an example to follow of
being careful, even frugal, with the valuable time we often lose
between tasks. Jesus knew that all time was precious and He never
wasted a moment of it.
Today, you will likely have some
discretionary time between tasks. You can mindlessly let it pass or
you can follow the example of Jesus and redeem that time
Four Types of Goal
Setters
What are you doing today
to reach your goals? Christian leadership expert John Maxwell says
there are four types of people when it comes to setting and reaching
our goals.
1. Copouts - People who
have basically have no goals.
2. Holdouts - People who
don't know if they can reach their goals, so they're afraid to
commit themselves.
3. Dropouts - People who
set goals but quit when the going gets tough.
4. All-outs - People who
set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them.
Copouts, holdouts,
dropouts, and all-outs: of these four it is only the all-outs who
do what is necessary to get God's best for their lives. And they do
it by redeeming the time.
A Rash of Good Luck
Did you hear about the genetic
engineer who tried to combine a 4 leaf clover with poison ivy? He
was looking for something to give him a rash of good luck.
Unfortunately lots of people today are
like that scientist, looking for luck to make them successful or to
give them the break they need to get ahead in life. But the Bible
never speaks of anyone getting lucky or having bad luck. Rather,
God says in Proverbs that “The hand of the diligent shall prosper,
but the slothful shall be under tribute.” God promises that those
who apply themselves will be rewarded accordingly, both in this life
and for those who are saved, in the life to come. Another Scripture
says, “In all labor there is profit.”
When we lose the mentality of luck or
fate controlling the events of our life and begin to accept full
responsibility for our actions, while acknowledging God’s sovereign
control, we gain the true frame of reference we need to redeem the
time.
Planting
Trees
An old Chinese proverb says the best
time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is
today.
Most of us can look back on life 10 or
20 years ago and wish we had done some things differently. And
while we are wise to learn from our mistakes, it's
also one of Satan's
favorite tactics to make us waste time fretting over things we can't
change. God doesn't
want us to spend time groveling and moaning over past failures.
Remember the words of Nehemiah that,
"The
joy of the Lord is your strength."
Satan would like nothing better than for you to miss even more
opportunities to serve God, because you're
spending time focusing on past failures.
The way to enjoy good fruit 20 years
from now is not to mope over your barren fields today, but rather to
go out right now and start planting some seeds and redeeming the
time.
An Hour vs. a Million Years
In his book, “Measure your Life”
Wesley Duewell makes the following observation about the way we
spend our time:
Life is an investment. God planned it
that way. For every hour we sow in our earthly life, there will be
millions of years of reaping in eternity. No life will ever end.
Once we are conceived in our mother’s womb, we will never cease to
exist. Death does not end existence. Nothing that a person can
ever do can shorten his existence or cause it to end.
Mr. Duewell gave us a very profound
thought. Think of it - millions of years of reaping the consequences
for one hour of time in this world.
What are you planning to do with the
next hour of your life? Before you settle in to watch another
television program, consider the fact that what you do in the next
hour will have millions of years of consequences. That might make
you want to redeem the time.
No Fear
No fear! That's
a popular slogan today. But is it really wise to have no fear? If
you walk a tightrope over Niagra Falls some fear would be helpful to
keep you alert. Scripture says we're
to fear God. If you're
not saved, you should fear God's
judgment enough to get saved.
There's
another fear every Christian needs. That is the fear of mediocrity.
Our word mediocre comes from the Latin medius, which gives us two
other words, "medium"
meaning not too hot, not too cold, and median, which sits in the
middle of the road.
Medium strength, middle of the road,
Christians are mediocre because they use their time in mediocre
ways. They don't
attempt things out of the ordinary. They won't
leave the comfort zone. They are not willing to take the risks,
develop the discipline, and make the commitments necessary to rise
above mediocrity.
The prospect of such a life should
make us fear. Jesus said he would spew the lukewarm from his
mouth. Let the fear of being mediocre be a powerful motivation to
you right now to redeem the time.
Nothing Hurts
An older couple woke after a good
night's sleep. The wife said, "Don't touch me."
"Why not?" the husband asked.
She answered, "Because I'm dead."
The husband asked, "What do you mean?
We're lying here in bed talking. What makes you think you're dead?"
"Because I woke up this morning and
nothing hurts,” she replied.
Those who are older would understand
that joke. Ecclesiastes 12 gives a description of the breakdown of
the body in old age. It describes the inability to sleep well, the
loss of sight and hearing and the steady loss of bodily strength.
In light of these inevitable signs of
aging God gives the admonition “Remember now thy Creator in the days
of thy youth, before the evil days come when thou shalt say I have
no pleasure in them.” God warns us that our days of full strength
are limited and we need to use them carefully.
Study Ecclesiastes 12 if you want some
good motivation to redeem the time.
Number your days
In Ps 90 God tell us to number our
days. But what does that actually mean to number our days?
There will come a point in each of our
lives, if we live long enough, where we no longer think of our life
in terms of how far we have come. We begin to think in terms of how
far we probably have left to go. Your reference point changes from
the beginning of life to the end of life. We no longer look back
and think how many birthdays have I had. We look the other
direction and think how many more birthdays will I likely have.
We don’t see time any longer as
something we are accumulating or getting more of. We see it as
something we’re using up, something we have less of with each
passing day.
Numbering our days then is learning to
put a number on our remaining days so we will learn to redeem the
time.
Long Range Planning
It has been said that we tend to
overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but we also tend to
underestimate what we can accomplish in 5 years.
Long range planning is a valuable
exercise for gaining control of our time. Long range goals give a
sense of purpose and direction to our lives. They let us know where
we're
going and allow us to plan how we'll
get there. Long range plans give vision and hope.
Ultimately the most important long
range plan is where we plan to spend eternity. God says it is
appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. Have
you made your plans for eternity yet? If not, you have never made
the most important decision of your life. Settling the question of
your eternal destiny is the most important way to redeem the time.
Great Returns.
Time is given to you by God for an
investment. He has great plans to reward your investments. He
wants to make you a spiritual billionaire in Heaven by lavishing you
with great returns on the time you give Him. The more you follow His
directions for investing time, the greater the eternal returns will
be.
You would be a foolish person to
neglect the many opportunities God provides to gain spiritual wealth
each day.
So seize every precious opportunity
today to show God’s love and to tell someone of the Savior. You
cannot afford to neglect opportunities for spiritual investment of
your time. Rather, seek out those investment opportunities and
redeem the time.
The Book of Revelation
Do you need motivation to redeem the
time today? Try reading the book of Revelation.
Rev. 1.3 says, "Blessed
is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,
and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at
hand."
As we read through the list of God's
coming judgments at the end of the world, we come away with a new
sense of urgency to obey the command of Jesus to work for the night
is coming when no man can work.
We're
motivated to redeem the time as we get a clearer picture of the
events soon to take place at the end of the world. The book of
Revelation blesses us by helping us stay focused on what is really
important-- that is preparing ourselves and others for judgment and
eternity to follow.
The soon return of the Lord Jesus
Christ as revealed in the last book of the Bible provides powerful
motivation to redeem the time.
Invest Your Life for God
Author Wesley Duewel wrote the
following poem called, “Invest Your Life for God”:
Invest your time for eternity;
Invest your life for the life to be.
Forever gone are the hours you’ve
lost.
Don’t waste your life; count again the
cost
Your money place in the Savior’s hand;
It’s only safe when on heaven’s
strand.
You never lose what you give to God,
But lose all else when beneath the
sod.
Invest your work in the Savior’s plan;
Work hard for God and His will for
man.
Don’t count the hours that you toil
and plod-
You’ll reap again all you do for God.
Don’t waste your life for a passing
joy;
Don’t sell your soul for a fragile
toy.
Give till it hurts; give your very
blood-
You live but once; live all out for
God.
That beautiful piece of poetry
expresses well the great rewards awaiting those who redeem the time.
From Measure your life 1992 Zondervan.
Don’t Sit Still
James in Scripture describes a ship's
rudder as an instrument capable of guiding a ship to whatever
destination the captain chooses. Yet, a rudder only works when the
ship is moving. In the same way, we are only able to accomplish God's
will when we are using our time profitably each day, moving forward
in the known will of God.
We often have a good idea of what God
wants for our lives. But the problem comes in the daily grind of
living our lives and using our time each day in ways that move us
toward accomplishing God's
bigger plan.
Someone said, ”You can be on the right
track, but if you're
sitting still, you are still going to get run over.” The person who
knows God's
will is on the right track. But, the one who knows God's
will and uses their time each day to move forward in fulfilling God's
will is the one who is redeeming the time.
A Day of Rest
Our great-grandfathers called it the
Holy Sabbath. Our grandfathers called it the Sabbath. Our parents
called it Sunday. Today we call it the weekend.
Whatever you call it, there is no
question that the attitude of the church concerning the Lord’s day
has greatly changed from what it observed the first 19 centuries to
what we observe, or fail to observe, today. Many people associate
refraining from work on Sunday with legalism or trying to earn
salvation by the law. But the principle of Sabbath day rest came
before the law. It was established by God in the creation week.
God limited buying and selling to six
days a week because those activities generally create work for
someone and our bodies were designed for one day of rest for every
six days of work. When we violate this principle we soon burn out
and end up loosing more than we gained from working the extra day.
Observing your God given day of rest,
is an important part of redeeming the time.
Queen
Elizabeth
Queen
Elizabeth I of England had all of the things most of us spend our
lifetime trying to gain. She was world famous. She was the most
powerful person in the world in her day. The sun never set on the
British Empire when Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne. She was the
wealthiest person in the world.
Yet when
it came time for Queen Elizabeth to die, the last words she ever
spoke from her death bed were these: “I would give all my kingdoms
for one more moment …of time! The great queen now understood the
importance of time, but she had understood it too late.
You may
not be as wealthy or powerful as Queen Elizabeth, but your time is
just as valuable. Just as the queen discovered, time is the one
possession that can never be replaced. Don't wait until your
deathbed, THINK today about how you will spend the time God has
given you and purpose to live for Him with every single moment .
Benjamin
Franklin
One of
history's greatest time managers was also one of our founding
fathers. Not only was he a great statesman, diplomat and ambassador
to other countries, but he was also the inventor of bifocal
glasses, the lightning rod, and our modern design for a school desk
with a desktop on one arm of the chair. He also invented the
rocking chair and even the harmonica. He started America's first
fire department, first public library, the university of
Pennsylvania, as well as a life insurance company. Furthermore, he
started two publications: the Saturday Evening Post and
Poor Richards Almanac which are still in print over 200 years
later. He was also our first Postmaster General. The list keeps
going…
That man
of course is Benjamin Franklin who once said, “Do you love life?
Then don't waste your time, because that is what life is made of.”
Benjamin
Franklin, a challenging example of redeeming the time.
The Boeing
Numbers
Alarm clock
sounds
Girl: “wha...
what time is it? (Groan) 7:27 I'll
just hit the snooze and catch 10 more minutes.”
Clock
Girl:
“what? 7:37 I can just skip the shower this morning. I'll
hit the snooze again.”
clock
Gail:
What, oh no! It’s 7:47. I'm
going to be late for work again!
How often
have you started your day by counting off the Boeing numbers? Just
like the Boeing airplanes you start at 727 snooze till 737, or
maybe 747? Then you rush out the door late for work not spending
time with the Lord.
Did you
know Scripture has a specific caution against snooze buttons?
Proverbs 26:14 says, “As the door turneth upon its hinges so does
the slothful man upon his bed.” What an accurate picture of wasting
time rolling back and forth in a wrestling match with our sheets.
Tomorrow morning break the snooze habit. When the clock goes off,
go ahead and get up, because UP is where you've
already determined you need to be if you want to redeem the time.
Death
is Coming
One day a young man was home when the
doorbell rang. It was death
The young man pleaded, “Please death,
I'm
such a young man! Can't
you just give me a little more time?”
Death replied, “I don't
usually do this, but yes, I'll
give you more time. And I'll
even send you a warning before I return.”
The young man was relieved. But he
soon forgot about death until many years had passed.
He was now an old man when the
doorbell rang again and Death appeared.
“Death? You promised you'd
send a warning before you returned!”
Death replied, “Sir, do you remember
when you got your first pair of glasses or the day you realized you
couldn't
keep up with the young people on the sports team? All those times I
sent aches, pains and changes of your body. I sent you a warning
everyday. You wouldn't
listen and now it’s time to come with me.”
There is
much truth in this little fable. God sends us daily reminders that
time is quickly passing. Time is winding up. We don't
have unlimited time. So let’s redeem the time God has given us RIGHT
NOW.