Have you made your list of 50 things you
want to do before you die? One survey I read found that swimming with
dolphins was the most common such situation - closely followed by
skydiving, going on safari, walking the Great Wall of China or climbing
Mount Everest. But, in reality, many of us will never be able to achieve
these goals, let alone afford them.
When they plan their lives, people include a
successful career or international travel in their must-do list. They
hope to buy a house and car, get married and have 2.4 children. Perhaps
one day, when they have more time, they will even get around to going to
church or reading the Bible. But those good intentions sometimes get
swallowed up or totally submerged by work, circumstances and family
commitments. As a church poster once read, ‘Make God laugh. Tell him
your plans.’
According to the Bible, ‘everything on
earth has its own time and its own season… God makes everything happen
at the right time’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1,11 Contemporary English Version).
That includes the right time for us to be born, the right time for us to
die - and the right time for each individual to come into a personal
knowledge of their Creator.
We may say we do not have time for him in
our daily living, but God is only ever a prayer away. He always has time
to listen to us, whatever our need.
The early Christian Paul wrote to some of
the first believers that God had long promised to help people. He added:
‘That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved’ (2
Corinthians 6:2).
That thought is echoed in this verse by Henry Twells attached to a clock in Chester Cathedral:
When as a child I laughed and wept, Time crept.
When as a youth I waxed more bold, Time strolled.
When I became a full-grown man, Time ran.
When older still I daily grew, Time flew.
Soon I shall find, in passing on, Time gone.
O Christ! wilt thou have saved me then?
There’s a right time for everything. Let’s not leave it too late to find out what God can do in our lives.War Cry 26 January 2013 (UK and Ireland)
