Thump.Thump. Thump.Thump. Do you recognize what that is? It’s my heartbeat. I think there may be an angel somewhere counting my heartbeats. (He must be pretty low on the celestial pecking order to get that assignment.) The thing is, he’s not counting them up, he is counting down. Thump.Thump. Thum.Thump. When he gets to zero, it’s over. The fat lady has sung, turn out the lights, it’s over. There is no appeal, no 11th hour reprieve, it’s over. Each beat brings me closer to the Judgment Seat. I’ll never get that heartbeat back. Have I put that thump.thump to good use?
Several years ago I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital with chest pains. As I lay in that hospital bed dealing with a possible heart attack and realizing I might not see my loved ones again, that heart beat took on a new meaning where before I had taken it for granted. Today I often evaluate am I just being busy or am I truly effective and fruitful?
Ecclesiastes 2:1-3 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,” We talk about dinner time, bed time and nap time. We spend time with friends and have a good time or a miserable time. Our job provides break time, sick time, vacation time. We take time for prayer. We allow time for chores. We lose time waiting in traffic. We do time in jail. We waste time with computer games. We save time taking a shortcut. We kill time waiting for someone who is late. I read in a leadership book several years ago, “Be careful of your time because your time is your life.” Am I living wisely? Am I using time as God wants me to?
I saw a poster once that said, “God has given me a certain number of things to do before I die. At the rate I’m going I’ll live forever.” Romans 13:11 (NIV) warns, “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Time is running out like sand through an hourglass. We imagine we have a full lifetime to define and redefine who we are. We have room to better ourselves, to change direction, to recover from mistakes. But what if my story ends mid-sentence? Our 22 year old son had dreams of graduation, dreams of marriage, dreams of career. He did not have dreams of a drunk driver on the wrong side of the freeway. Romans 13:14 (NIV) tells us what God expects of us, “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Luke 21:34 (NLT) warns, “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware.”
The fertilized human egg is no bigger than the width of a hair, yet think about what it contains. Your sex, the color of your hair, how tall you will be. “Yea, yea. (ho hum)” But wait, if we stop there we have missed the power and majesty of God’s creation. The human body is made up of over 90 trillion cells, that’s 9 with 13 zeros. Inside that single, tiny egg are the instructions for every one of those 90 trillion cells with regards to location, function, interaction, healing and life cycle.
When a heart surgeon goes in, he doesn’t have to rummage around: “It must be in here somewhere!” No, he is going to find the heart right where it is supposed to be because it was programmed by that single cell. The devil wants you to believe that you are an accident, a mistake, worthless, without meaning or purpose. That life comes forth only by the sovereign hand of God as one cell becomes 90 trillion.
In Matthew 22:11-14 the king, symbolizing God the Father, comes into the wedding feast he is hosting and finds one attendee has refused to put on the wedding garment he has been provided. This man came in appearance but not in heart. He was seeking the blessings but was not willing to be obedient. Jesus’s death provided for each of us a robe of righteousness. Whether my clothes are from Gucci or from Goodwill, I have been given the robe of righteousness.
Nothing can separate me from the love of God, but I want to be pleasing to Him. To please Him I must live life on purpose. But how do I know my purpose? Why am I here? That is a question as old as mankind. Paul knew his purpose: “My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” (Acts 20:24 NLT)
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV) says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” “Hey, I went to church every Sunday (well almost).” “I never knew you.” “I had a cross tattooed on my arm.” “I never knew you.” “I preached in the jail.” “I never knew you.”
I can know about someone but not know them. LeBron James plays professional basketball for the Miami Heat. He is 6’ 8”, 250 pounds, He was born on Dec. 30, 1984. He has averaged 27.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.73 steals and 39.9 minutes playing time per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, 33.1 percent from three-point range and 74.6 percent from the foul line. And on and on. I may know a lot about LeBron, but do I know him? I may be able to quote a lot a Bible verses, I may bring powerful teachings before thousands but that doesn’t show I have an intimate relationship with God. That takes time and a willingness to listen.
I propose that knowing God takes four things:
- Salvation: Our starting point must be accepting by faith the grace of God that brings us right standing. I don’t deserve it. I can’t earn it. I can only receive the gift by faith. I am transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. (Colossians 1:13)
- Mind renewal: After our spirit is born again, we still have the same old way of thinking. The process of mind renewal, allowing the Word of God to change us from the inside, changes our perspective from worldly thinking into kingdom thinking. (Romans 12:2)
- Seek God: What is my priority? Am I seeking the things of the world or am I focused on God? What I value I will pursue. (Colossians 3:2)
- Obedience: John 15:14 says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” The inevitable product of authentic salvation, mind renewal and seeking God will be obedience. Rebellion or apathy are signs of a defect somewhere in that process.
Someday I will step through the curtain into eternity. I expect to spend the first two million years with my jaw hanging open going, “Wow.” Then God is going to nudge me and say, “Come over here. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” 1Corinthians 2:9 promises, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Every generation since the Ascension has said, “Surely this is the time of Jesus’s return.” Will He come back today, tomorrow, next week, next year, 100 years from now? It doesn’t matter. I am called to live today the very best I can. Ephesians 5:15 (NASV) warns, “Making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” The great equalizers are death and time. That goes for you or me, Barack Obama or the guy at the mission, Donald Trump or someone flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Each one of us has 24 hours today, no more, no less. Am I going to live in a way that I hope to squeeze into heaven before the pearly gates swing shut or am I going to live in victory as a light of His grace, His peace, His love in a dark world? Think about it while there is still time.
Thump.Thump. Thump.Thump. Thump.Thump. Thump.Thump. beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
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