In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter one verse 14, God spoke and said, “let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years.” With those words, God had just created “time.” In the very last book of the Bible, Revelation, we are told that an angel is going to one day proclaim that “there shall be time no longer.” Just as God created time, He is also going to do away with time.

Today the average “lifetime” for a person is very short. The Bible describes the length of a man’s life as "a vapor,” here for only an instant and then suddenly gone" (James 4:14). There is very little time between the cradle and the grave which is why scripture so strongly warns us not to “put off” making our decision for Jesus Christ. Scripture emphatically states that NOW is the time, NOW is the day of salvation, “choose TODAY whom you will serve” the Bible says (II Corinthians 6:2 and Joshua 24:15). Time itself (the Bible teaches) is one day going to be swallowed up in eternity. We must therefore consider very carefully how we use the time that the Lord has given us here and now. God cares a great deal about how you use your time because that time is a gift from Him. How are you using that gift? One of the ways that we are instructed by Scripture to use our time is to make the most of all our chances to tell others about Jesus Christ.

Simply put, our life on this earth is “time” that God gives us to decide how we will spend eternity. Every person in the world has to make that same decision. I  know of people who have gone to a great evangelistic crusade and they were deeply moved by the message but they didn’t make that commitment to Christ. Instead they said “I’ll wait,” and then they were killed in a car accident on their way home. They felt Christ knocking at their hearts door but they didn’t let Him in, they said “I’ll do it later,” but later didn’t come for them. They waited until it was too late. And for the person who waits too long to turn to Jesus for their salvation the Bible clearly states that there exists absolutely no remedy and no hope. None! (Proverbs 29:1). Only through accepting Jesus Christ into your heart and allowing His blood to wipe away the penalty for your sins can a man be saved and so we must decide, will we accept Christ, or will we reject Christ? No person can escape the necessity of having to deal with this most critical of all questions because no person anywhere in the world can save themselves. It simply is not possible. “There is salvation in no other: (the Bible says) for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There are millions upon millions of people who have passed out of this world into eternity “unsaved” because they “waited too long”, they “hesitated,” and the Bible gives clear warning that there is no forgiveness for the ultimate sin of rejecting Jesus Christ. He is calling to you today, right now: are you listening?

It is an incredible love beyond all human comprehension that the Son of God willingly left the glory of His throne in Heaven and exchanged it for a Cross at Calvary. Are you willing to take up YOUR cross and follow Him? Jesus said “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). You need to be sure that you are ready to stand before God and meet Him face to face because my friend it is one hundred percent guaranteed in the Bible that you are personally going to have to face that moment, it is a certainty, and there is nothing at all you can do to escape it. And it will not be like today when a person goes to court and stands before a judge with the possibility that they could receive probation or be placed on parole, or even file an appeal if the verdict does not go in their favor. No. On that most sure and certain of days when you are standing before God none of those things will be a possibility for you. No probation, no parole, and absolutely no appeals. There is, however, a way that exists for any person to be completely prepared for that moment, one way (and one way only) to be prepared for eternity and that way is by acknowledging the fact that you are a sinner, realizing your need of forgiveness, repenting of your sins, believing on Jesus Christ and accepting Him as your personal Lord and Saviour, and then faithfully following Him every day of your life. If you have not done that then there is nothing covering your sin and there is nothing covering the penalty for your sin.

The Bible tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Eternal life; how can a person possibly describe eternity? The dictionary describes it as “everlasting, changeless” and “without end.” But is there any way that we can possibly relate time as we know it with the length of eternity? Well picture eternity this way: the world is a giant solid steel ball and just one time every trillion years a small sparrow flies down and very lightly just taps the steel ball with its little beak. By the time the tiny sparrow had performed this act enough times to completely wear away the world size steel ball eternity would have just begun. And so the question which must be settled in the hearts of men and women throughout the world is this; at the end of this very short life where will you be spending eternity? There are only two choices - - what’s yours?  God’s way is the clear and undeniable standard to which we must adhere if we are to attain eternal life because man’s way only leads to a hopeless end - while God’s way leads to an endless hope.

Scripture declares that “the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1: 7&8). Did you know there is one thing that you could spend a hundred lifetimes searching the four corners of the globe for and you would never find it? - you will never find a person who has not sinned. The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God", (Romans 3:23) and that "like sheep we have gone astray, everyone turning to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Will sin keep a person out of Heaven? No - but “un-repented” sin will and sin has entered into the heart of every person in the world.  The only remedy for sin exists within God’s unfathomable love for us. He personally took it upon Himself to enter into time through His Son Jesus Christ,  taking on the limitations of time and even taking upon Himself our death penalty so that you and I (who deserve death) could have eternal life with God without the constraints of time. Jesus died in our place so that you and I would never have to.

Our world today is drowning in sin and even though (as the Bible says) there may be pleasure in sin for a season, the consequences of sin are forever. In its very simplest definition sin is “rebellion against God.” Our world today is rebelling against God in unprecedented fashion. People go out of their way to ignore God and then quickly turn around and blame Him for all the trouble in their lives. You see God created you for the sole purpose of having an eternal relationship with Him. Do you have a relationship with Him? Are you using for His glory the things that He has given you? For example - your hands; have your hands pushed others down instead of lifting them up? What about your feet? Have your feet taken you places where you should not have gone? And your eyes: have your eyes lusted after things that are impure? And what about your heart? Has your heart been filled with the presence of Christ? Has it helped lead others to Christ? Or has it always been filled with arrogance, pride, and greed? You need to be fully aware of the fact that you are going to have to give an account to God as to how you used those things throughout the course of “time” that He gave you on this earth. The Bible very clearly instructs us to use the time that God gives us “wisely.” It says that every one of us shall give account of himself to God. "For we must ALL appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad” (II Corinthians 5:10). Do not make the foolish and deadly mistake that so many others have made by thinking that you can always make things right with God “tomorrow” because not a single one of us are promised a “tomorrow.” Every breath that we take is another step toward death. None of us have a guarantee of more “time” beyond today or even beyond the next hour or the next minute.

Our great American Constitution only guarantees us the right to “pursue” happiness, the Cross guarantees it. Still, we have become like greyhounds chasing the mechanical rabbit at the dog racing track hoping to somehow “seize” upon happiness and total contentment in life. Our planet is a busy place and people are always on the move in a constant race against “time.” We have become a breathless generation in the pursuit of a happiness which consistently eludes us because we are looking for it “apart from” Jesus Christ. Man looks for happiness in the things he desires most. The Bible says that you will know a person by their fruits and that those fruits will be a direct reflection of the true desires of that persons heart. And so the reason for so many people in our world today being in such a constant state of unhappiness, loneliness, and fear is because Jesus Christ is not the true desire of their heart. A person will always make time for whatever the true desire of their heart is. What is the true desire of your heart?

The only way for a person to be truly happy is to count their blessings and not their cash. No matter how many worldly possessions you have in life, no matter how successful you are, no matter how much land you own, no matter how many houses and cars you own you still have no idea what it means to truly live, - until - you have truly prepared to die. And that is something that none of us can escape. The Bible declares that “it is appointed unto everyone
once to die.” You and I both have an appointment with death. Nothing we can do will delay that appointment. We can not change that appointment. We can not cancel that appointment. It is an appointment that every person in the world must keep. Therefore, you need to make absolutely sure that you are completely ready for that appointment. You say
“but how do I do that? What must I do to make sure that I am ready? You simply go to God in prayer with a repenting heart and say “Lord I know that I am a sinner. I confess my sins, I repent of my sins, I lay them all at the foot of your Cross and I ask your forgiveness. I want to know beyond all doubt that I am ready to meet You face to face. Please come into my heart Lord. Make my heart your home. Cleanse me with your redeeming blood and take complete control in every area of my life. Give me the strength, courage and wisdom to follow You every day. I know that You have prepared a home for me and I want to live with you forever. Take my hand Lord, and lead me home.” - If you say those words and you mean them with all of your heart then you are ready for your appointment with God. No matter what you have done in life, no matter how deep the sin, no matter how numerous the sins God can and will forgive you. He said that He will never deny any person who comes to Him in true repentance. Don’t ever feel that you’re not worth loving and don’t ever feel that you’re not worth saving. God loves you so much that He left the magnificent glory of His throne in Heaven and came down to live in a barren land where the very people He came to save would mock Him, hate Him, spit on Him, and eventually crucify Him - and He willingly endured all of those things and more because He loves you and He wants you to live with Him - for all eternity. He said that He has prepared a home in Heaven for you, and He is anxiously awaiting to welcome you to that new home where you will be forever with the God of all creation - never again to be constrained by the chains of time, - “For there shall be time no longer.”

God bless you,
Mark Shutts