The Time is Now
There is A LOT going on in our world and in our nation today. BOKO HARAM—Killing and kidnapping Christians in Africa.
ISIS—If you want to be horrified, go to a search engine on the internet like google or bing and image search “Isis killing Christians.”
IN AMERICA—Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of a bakery in Oregon, were sued by a lesbian couple because they would not bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. The Klein’s lost the suit are were forced to comply or close down their shop. On top of that, the lesbian couple also sued the Klein’s for emotional damages and were awarded 153,000.
When the Klein’s set up a GoFundMe account online to raise money to pay for this lawsuit, GoFundMe deactivated their account and would not allow the Klein’s to use that website to raise the needed funds.
As we speak, the Supreme Court is hearing and deliberating on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Should the court rule in favor of it, Christian schools, colleges, churches that refuse to abide by the ruling, could at the very least lose their tax exempt status. At worst, they would be forced to comply or be subject to lawsuits and damages just as the Klein’s have been.
I could go on and on with these stories—but besides this increasingly common events—there is just the everyday of life and death on earth.
For example, did you know that in the time it takes you to read this one sentence, nearly 10 people will die? Each MINUTE, 107 people die. That means, today 154,080 people will die. With only about 25% of the world’s population being Christian, that means 115,560 of those who die will go to Hell—that’s just today.
Think about it. Almost 116,000 human beings will start their eternity in Hell today.
So with Boko-Haram, ISIS, marriage issues, Supreme Court rulings, people going to Hell in such numbers—you’d think this would be stuff we were thinking about and discussing all the time.
But you know what I found—most people aren’t thinking and talking about these things. I hear talk about sports’ teams, getting to the next level in a video games, weekend plans, favorite songs, the weather, movies, tv shows, stock market issues, and more
Yes, I hear a lot of talk about those things, but I don’t hear talk about the important things of today…nor the eternal things of our time. And here’s the problem with that. You talk about what you think about…so if you are NOT talking about something, that’s a good indicator you are also NOT thinking about it.
Understand that, for the most part, it is only after thought and discussion that there is action. So if you are not thinking about something, you won’t talk about it, and if you don’t think about it and discuss it, there won’t be any action on it.
Thought leads to discussion…discussion leads to action. This, by the way, is why God calls us to pray without ceasing. Because as you think about what you can be praying over, then talk about those things with God, it leads to some action.
It is not God’s plan that we constantly entertain trivial, temporary things while our culture falls apart and the world literally goes to Hell all around us. No, instead it is God’s plan that we set aside the trivial and the temporary so we can begin thinking about the meaningful and eternal that is happening all around us, then discuss these issues so that we can engage the world and make a difference for Christ.
While discussing the end times in Matthew 25, Jesus tells the disciples, “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world...“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons…”
One day we will all stand before God. Those 154,000 who will die today along with everyone else whoever lived. As all the unsaved are herded off to the left--their faces twisted in horror as they realize their eternal fate--I doubt any of us will be thinking in that moment, “I’m glad I got to level 100 in that video game. Social media was a great way to waste time. My sports team made it to play-offs. My weekends were always filled with awesome plans."
All that stuff we spend so much time thinking about now, we won’t be thinking about any of that when Matthew 25 happens. You’ll see those people over with the goats screaming in terror when they realize what’s about to happen to them—maybe you’ll see a friend, a neighbor, a family member, a classmate--and you’ll think, "I should have said more, done more, engaged more. Why did I waste so much time with stuff that didn’t matter?"
Don’t let that be the case. The time is now to start thinking about what really matters and what is really going on in our world and in our culture. The time is now to start praying, and talking, and discussing these things. The time is now to engage a culture and world that desperately needs you to be Christ’s hands, feet, and mouthpiece.
