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"Time Is Shorther Than You Think"
Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 23, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: This lesson shows how little time we have on earth. Are you storing up temporal or eternal things?
The older you get the more you realize how short life really is. When you are 20, 60 years is old. When you are 50 years old 60 is young and 99 is older not old.
James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
At the beginning of your life the world is a jewel to be captured. At the end of your life the world was a harsh testing ground for what is to come. If you are saved by faith in Jesus, Glory and heaven awaits. If you are not saved then eternal agony in hell await. Did you know that you could be good, I mean really good all your life by serving the poor, giving up all your money, clothes and time and still go to hell? Faith is Jesus is faith NOT works. Ephesians 2:8.9 is a key verse for the salvation of our souls.
But please do not take this verse to say works don’t count. I have had so many lab tests, MRI’s and X rays, probed and prodded lately that someone should know what my insides look like. The last MRI I got a few weeks ago the pounding of the magnets was so loud that I couldn’t hear the music coming in through my headphones. So hear was my worry story for that evening. I got to bed and started to worry that the machine was bad. The magnets were loose emitting some sort of radiation!!!! Maybe my wife Julie will write the next book on what it’s like to live with me. Fortunately she is the calm one. I relate her to the Golden Retriever and I am the Chihuahua. But I say this because God has used this weird sense of worry to draw me closer to Him.
Did you know that if you did not have anything in your life that was a concern then you would have a greater chance of falling from the faith? God knows your heart and WILL ALLOW whatever it takes to keep you close to Him. Sorry to say if I had everything I needed my desire for Jesus would probably not be as strong as it should be. Pleasures of the world can be a huge trap. Now I have seen that I don’t have a lot of time left and either do you. Twenty, Thirty years will be a vapor. Then you are left with what? Have you ever though of that. At the end of your life will you have stored up treasure for yourself or will you have helped people see how to get to heaven.
How much money did the billionaire leave behind when he died? All of it!!!!
Today you still have a choice and can right the course of your life. I am not saying to switch jobs but what I am saying is to try to work with an eternal not a temporal attitude. Temporal gathers things for yourself, eternal helps send others to eternal glory through the power of Jesus.
Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
We need to respect those in authority because God put them there for a reason. But we are called to help the poor. This could also be the rich who are poor in spirit or the poor without food or the poor without knowledge of never hearing the Gospel.
Today there is much work to do and not a lot of time left. God may call you or I home today, yes today. When you stand before God will you be satisfied with the treasure you stored in heaven or did you try to store too much here on earth? Many people I talk to always think they have more time to make things right. This was one of the things the Lord taught be when I saw my father die in front of me. I was only thirteen but God used that event to give me a sense of urgency in my life. It also burned in my mind that we aren’t even guaranteed of this afternoon.
Please pray today what the Lord would have you do in this life. If you don’t believe life is short then you have not been around death or you need to go to a children’s hospital ward. Life does not seem fair this side of heaven because THIS IS NOT HEAVEN.
“Lord help me to be in your will. Help my hearts desire to not store up treasure here but to store up treasure in heaven that will last for eternity. Lord please put in front of me today people that need a healing touch and help me to slow down enough to see their need. Help me to see that my life is no more important than others. Please forgive me if I have. Lord I trust in you. Please use me today Lord to reach the lost.” Amen
There is much work to do, the time is short. I pray that you are ready for the task ahead of you. There is nothing more worthwhile than working for the King!
Brad