Time is Running Out!

         Sooner or later, things come to an end. We quite often don't know when that will occur with many things, but other things are quite obvious. My cup of coffee comes to an end when the last drop is consumed. It is then, empty. It was obvious to me when I wrote the date for tomorrow's devotion, that the end of the year was fast approaching. I usually write the devotions a day ahead which at least gives me twenty four hours to come up with what would be an encouragement in your and in my life. After midnight on Tuesday, the year 2019 will be in the past and only memories will remain. We will have started a new year. While making a quick scan of Facebook, I came across a quote that said, “Eternity is a long time to be wrong.” For some, we have perhaps gone the whole year thinking about doing something and in the end just flat not getting it done. Sweeping the kitchen floor may be one of those things and the consequences may not be as severe as some other things mainly, making a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior. You may have been to church to hear your Christmas sermon and to be challenged and then thought about the message and soon it disappeared. It was put off for a more convenient time. James 4:13-14 says, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

          James brings every decision into the present light. Either we do it or we don't. We try to make the right decision based on the evidence that we have at the moment. We look out the window and see if it is raining and if it is, we take an umbrella. If the temperature is below a certain point, we take a jacket or something heavier to keep us warm. Some decisions are easy while others take a little more thinking. You don't decide to take the umbrella when you are a mile from home and walking in the rain. You usually do it before you leave the house. Just as the final hours of 2019 are coming to a close, so are the opportunities to make the decision for Christ. James compares our life to the wisp of vapor that comes out of a tea kettle. It is here one moment and then gone forever. I can see rain falling, I can read the thermometer and so my decisions are based upon that information when I walk out the door. You probably have a Bible handy but that doesn't necessarily make you a Christian. It just means you own a Bible. Have you made the decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ or are you still thinking about it? Just as the year is ticking away, so are the opportunities and the time to make the decision for Christ. Once the end comes, you won't have time to change your mind. As the little quote went, “Eternity is a long time to be wrong.” Remember what Paul said to the Philippian jailer. “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Praise God that He is still calling people to be saved.