The Clock Is Winding Down

by Terry Wane Benton

With each second, minute, and hour that passes, our time is winding down, and we are that much closer to death and facing eternity. We have never been this close, yet we keep inching closer as we live.

God commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day of reckoning (Acts 17:30,31), and He has assured this by raising Jesus from the dead. That was a permanent demonstration that there is life and existence beyond death. So, it is not like we can pretend there will be no judgment and accountability if we wish it away and pretend it is not real. We are inching our way to eternal damnation or eternal life with God, and all the preparation work must be wisely done now because final judgment comes down to making wise choices over foolish ones (Matthew 7:21-24).

The wise think about the King coming for final judgment and how to use today to get ready and stay ready. The foolish "neglect" so great salvation (Hebrews 2:1-4) that is freely offered in Christ (Romans 6:23). The wise know that "great salvation" and "no condemnation in Christ" (Romans 8:1) is accessible (Romans 5:1) to us in the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16). They have "tasted that the Lord is good" and therefore have a craving, like newborn babies crave milk (I Peter 2:1-3). But the foolish never take time to taste the good word of God and the power of it (Hebrews 4:12). They are focused on the visible and temporary, the things that perish, and have no internal insight into the eternal (II Corinthians 4:16f). The clock ticks but they stay blind to their true purpose and destiny. They build their lives on the sand.

Even as the clock keeps ticking, we all know it will stop for us at some point, and the older we get, the more precious each tick of the clock should become. This article is worth some deep reflection, but some "have no time for this." Little do they realize that they don't have time not to think of this.

Are you wise or foolish with your time?