Matthew 24:40-42

Matthew 24:40-42

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. (NKJV)

We have forgotten how to weep because, I think, in the busyness of our lives, we have forgotten what is really important.

This past week, an acquaintance died. I met this man only once, but he was a likeable person, someone I think my husband and I would have enjoyed getting to know. However, I must confess that in that one meeting my focus wasn’t on guiding the conversation, if he would have allowed it, to discussing the things of the Lord, but rather upon more trivial things. And perhaps I could have justified that as a way to first gain confidence, to make my later conversations more trustworthy. But there will be no conversations, for this past weekend, this man left his body here to face the Lord. Was he a Christian? I don’t know. If I had known I would have had only that one opportunity, would I have been bolder in my witness? I must confess that if I had been more open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, I might have had a chance to at least share the gospel once. I hope and pray that someone was more courageous, more obedient than I was.

The Lord comes for everyone of us. Whether at His second coming or at our deaths, we will face Him, acknowledge Him as Lord, and account for our lives (Romans 14:10). There is no more compelling or important appointment waiting for us, and yet, as believers, I think we often put this aside in favor of focusing on other things in our lives. Oh, we tell ourselves that those things have importance and they do, possibly, to a point. But if we are serious as Christians, we must admit that much of what we do is wasted and much of what we ignore is what actually affects eternity.

John Wesley wrote:

“Do you know yourself a sinner? Weep for your sins, and mourn after God, till He turns your heaviness into joy. And even then, weep with those who weep, and for those who weep not for themselves. Mourn for the sins and miseries of all humanity. See the immense ocean of eternity without a bottom or a shore. It has swallowed up millions upon millions of people and is ready to devour those who yet remain.

“Here is the house of God, eternal in the heavens. And there is hell and destruction, without a covering! And from this, learn the importance of every moment which just appears and then is gone forever.”

There is a persistent seriousness to Wesley’s Christianity that, I think, the modern Church lacks. There is an eternal perspective, understanding what’s really important and what’s just wasted hay and stubble, that Wesley embraced but one which we don’t even know about! Today, someone is going to die. There is no way we can stop it. It may even be someone we know or perhaps someone we have wanted to share the gospel with, but just put it off. Isn’t it time that we get serious about what we believe, serious to the point that we put our words into actions? If we truly believe that those who haven’t surrendered to the Lord Jesus are facing eternal condemnation, and if we believe that the Lord Jesus truly died to save all who will believe (John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9), then isn’t it time that our beliefs become the springboard for what we do, even what we do today?

I’m Trading My Sorrows
by Darrell Evans

I’m trading my sorrows. I’m trading my shame.
I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.

We say, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord. Amen.

Today, I want to say “yes, Lord” to whatever He would have me say or do. Amen! So be it.

© 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.