It’s easy to become so absorbed by the daily duties of life that we forget the most important thing . . . all of this is one day going to be destroyed. Rev. 21:1 (NKJ): “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” The Bible tells us clearly that this earth and everything in it will be replaced by a new earth, an earth not affected by the ravages of sin.
Larry Norman, in the 70's I believe, wrote a song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” The first verse says: “Life was filled with guns and war, and everyone got trampled on the floor. I wish we’d all been ready. Children died, the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold, I wish we’d all been ready.” Sound familiar? We may or may not be living in those last days, but the fact is that the Lord is coming for each and every one of us like a thief in the night.
The Lord Jesus told this parable:
"The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16b-21 NKJ).
What’s interesting is that, if we don’t read the end of the parable, it sounds as if the man has done well by himself. He worked and gathered in crops. He had no room for all of them, so he decided to build bigger barns so that he would be able to store the crops for future use. But notice, it doesn’t say that the man worked hard, but rather than the ground yielded plentifully. In other words, the Lord had blessed him. Rather than keep his bounty for himself, the Lord expected him to share it with others. And even though the man had good financial planning, it did him no good because that very night the Lord came for him!
What does the Lord expect us to do with the time and resources that He provides?
Isaiah 58:6-9a (NKJ): “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'”
The Lord Jesus echoed these words in Matthew 25:
“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'” (v. 34-36 NKJ).
The time for us to reach out to others is now. The Lord is coming for each and every one of us. He may come in the rapture, gathering the believers at one time, or He may come for us in death, coming for us individually. And certainly we will not know the day or time that He comes for us. But He will come like a thief in the night. Our responsibility is what we will do with what He gives us today.
© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.
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