Killing Time—Injuring Eternity
By Pastor Johnny R. Almond
Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “How long are you going to sit around on your hands,
putting off taking possession of the land that GOD, the God of your ancestors, has given you?”
JOSHUA 18:3 THE MESSAGE
Frequently we delay doing the right thing. It is not that we are ignorant of what we should be doing; our sin is procrastination. We keep waiting for “the right time.” Now is the right time! Today is the day of salvation; today is also the day of service. Here and now is all we have. This is a workday—we should not report late!
Putting off tasks that seem overwhelming or disagreeable shows lack of discipline, careless use of time, and disobedience to God. When we are tempted to postpone getting into action by substituting good intentions—we should concentrate on high priority tasks, work as a team with others, and seek encouragement from fellow members of the church.
Our head may be filled with knowledge, but our heart is sometimes slow to act on what we know. Wasting time grieves the heart of God.
I do not think God is impressed by our biblical IQ, if it is not matched by a high spiritual “I do.” Whatever we intend to do for God, we should do it today! It’s time to wake up and follow through on our noble dreams! Here are some practical ways to translate our resolutions into practical deeds—demonstrate love to our family; phone our friends to cheer them up; write a note to someone going through hard times to express concern.
We should not allow our lesser goals to overshadow the kingdom of God—to do so would make us a scatterbrain. After we make sure our ambition and aim are sincere, we must then swiftly obey God’s will. It is high time to passionately, prayerfully, intelligently, and energetically serve our Creator, Redeemer, and Friend. We need to quit staring up the steps and start stepping up the stairs.
Often we allow distractions to hinder our commitment to God. Rather than focusing on claiming our spiritual inheritance, we allow peripheral issues to sidetrack us. Trivial pursuits occupying our time will not matter a century from today. But who we are and what we do for heaven’s sake will matter millenniums from now—and beyond.
Henry David Thoreau was right in Walden—we cannot kill time without injuring eternity.
Johnny R. Almond
Pastor, Hull’s Memorial Baptist Church - Friends on a Journey of Faith
Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity—book available on Amazon
http://GentleWhispersFromEternity--ScripturePersonalized.com/
devotion based on day 117 of Gentle Whispers from Eternity
