TIME IS TICKING
COUNT DOWN (CLOCK COUNTING DOWN WITH A BIG TIME’S UP, OR EXPLOSION)
TIME’S UP, EYES FORWARD, PENS DOWN, PAPERS CLOSED YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED, STILL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER, OH NO YOU WASTED TIME.
IT IS AN ODD FEELING, YOU ARE EXHAUSTED, DARKNESS IS DESCENDING, AND TEARS MAYBE FALLING; IT WAS AN IMPORTANT FINAL EXAM. YOU FEEL UGLY AND WITHOUT VALUE, WORTHY ONLY OF DESTRUCTION, WAVES OF SELF-PITY. SELF-LOATHING POUNDS AT YOUR SEAMS UNTIL IT TEARS YOU APART, IT LASTS ONLY A COUPLE OF MINUTES, THIS EMOTIONAL HURRICANE. YOUR TIME IS UP.
WHAT NOW!!!!
Are we simply going through the motions allowing carelessness and indifference to play a part in our lives? Have we become lethargic and with no zeal. If so it is time to wake up. We have been on a bottled water binge for a number of years. Now let us look at this, please could somebody explain this to me. We have water freely available from faucets, taps and drinking fountains but yet people choose to pay for bottled water. What is it, do people believe that a product they pay for is superior to anything that they receive free. Now that you think about it, does it not seem weird, or a bit silly? Now could we not say the same of our spiritual lives, are we not struggling with the fact that salvation is a gift from God? Are we not sleeping allowing time to past us by?
Let us read Romans 13:11-14:
You know the times in which we are living. It's time for you to wake up. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first became believers. The night is almost over, and the day is near. So we should get rid of the things that belong to the dark and take up the weapons that belong to the light. We should live decently, as people who live in the light of day. Wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, rivalry, and jealousy cannot be part of our lives. Instead, live like the Lord Jesus Christ did, and forget about satisfying the desires of your sinful nature.
So we are indifferent to the matters of the spirit, we are careless about things eternal; we are lethargic in our services to the Lord. We are still trying to purchase the living water of Salvation with good deeds and charitable donations, we want to earn it, the problem is, no-one can afford it as the price of Salvation is perfections.
(Matthew 19:21- Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, sell what you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!")
IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!
In James 4:14-17, is says that we are a mist that appears for a while and then vanishes. We know time is short. The time to change and grow will soon be gone, the day of eternity will arrive and we will not be ready. This world and time as we know it will not last long. Are we like the electricity, flick of a switch and we are off?
I heard a story about a vacuum cleaner salesman, it was his first day on the job, he had never sold vacuum cleaners before, and they teamed him up with the sales manager who was going to train him to sell the vacuum cleaners. It was a door to door job. And so they went to sell vacuum cleaners. The manager went to the first door in the neighborhood, he knocked on the door, the lady opened, he kind of bullied his way through and said Hi, I am Jim Scott with excellent vacuum cleaners, I want to show it to you, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a jar full of dirt and muck and threw it on her carpet. The lady was horrified, the manager said lady if my vacuum does not get this up off the carpet, I will get down on my hands and knees and lick up with a spoon. He plugged in the cleaner, it cleaned it all up, and the lady was amazed and bought one. They went to a couple of houses, did the same thing, the ladies all bought. The manager asked the salesman, Got It? , yes was the answer. The following day the salesman was on his own, does the same exactly how we was taught, introduced himself as Bill smith for excellent vacuum cleaners, he threw his dirt on the carpet, the lady looked at me aghast, he said lady if my vacuum cleaner does not get this dirt of your carpet, I will get down on my hands and knees and lick it up with a spoon, she said well you had better get started because I have not got electricity!
IT IS REALLY BAD WITHOUT POWER.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Since we are God's coworkers, we urge you not to let God's kindness be wasted on you.
God says, "At the right time I heard you. On the day of salvation I helped you." Listen, now is God's acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!
Revelation 21:6
He said to me, "It has happened! I am the A and the Z, the beginning and the end. I will give a drink from the fountain filled with the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. It won't cost anything.
When a person experiences the salvation of his soul, they have experienced something eternal, that can never fade or be taken away. There is only one road to heaven, there is only one remedy for sin, there is but one way to escape from hell and that is through God’s plan of salvation. Jesus is the living water; just one drink will make you whole, drawing daily from that spring brings refreshment to the soul. Jesus is the only fountain who can satisfy the thirsty soul.
While good deeds are forms of spiritual service valued by God, they are not what God requires for the forgiveness of our sin. Jesus already paid the price by dying in our place and He offers to quench our spiritual thirst when we drink freely from God’s fountain that will never run dry.
Do you want to stop wasting time; it is now your time to accept this gift which has been freely given to you. Would you accept Jesus as your Lord and savior before your time is up!
Amen
