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THE IMPORTANCE
OF BEING ON TIME
Jack Stanton received a postcard
the other day. What makes that remarkable is that this minister,
professor, and personal friend died in the summer of 2002. The
card is postmarked October 20, 1949, at 9:30 PM. It was sent to
Jack at the Carpenter Street Baptist Church in Moberly, Missouri,
where he had been serving as pastor, and came from Evangelist
Del Fehsenfeld of St. Louis to promote a meeting in California.
The postcard carries the titles
of sermons Mr. Fehsenfeld would be preaching: "Are You Ready
to Meet God?" "Will the Atomic Bomb End All?" and
"Battle of Armageddon?" An enterprising reporter tracked
down the evangelist, now 90 years of age and living in Greenville,
South Carolina. He got a kick out of this blast from the past.
Timing is not everything, but
it's still much. The right timing meant Simon of Cyrene was chosen
to carry our Lord's cross to Calvary. Luke 23:26 tells us Simon
had just arrived in town. I envy that man!
Timing put Harry Truman in the
White House when FDR died. A million grieving Americans gave thanks
that Roosevelt had not died a year earlier when Henry Wallace
was vice president.
As a 19-year-old, I joined a church
near my college campus that was at the peak of its fifty-year
existence. The warmth of the fellowship and dedication of its
leaders provided the ideal environment for this student who was
just beginning to open up to spiritual things. Five years later
the church began a decline that resulted in its demise in the
1980s. By the Lord's timing, I caught the wave at its crest.
At the same time, Joel Davis moved
to town, into the same boarding house where I was staying. I invited
him to church, we became roommates and soulmates, and he stood
as best man in our wedding. That was over 40 years ago and we
still love and pray for each other.
History holds sad stories of people
who received urgent news too late to do any good. The governor's
reprieve arrived just after the switch was thrown. The crook confesses,
but an innocent man has paid for his crime. The medicine arrives
but the patient lies cold in the morgue. The secret message was
decoded just after the terrorists did their dirty work.
Missionary Wade Akins led a man
to Christ in a public restroom. Then, the fellow asked Wade to
go home with him and share the same message with his elderly father.
The old man heard the news, prayed to be saved, then chewed Wade
out for not coming earlier while his wife was still living.
The apostle Paul was languishing
in Caesar's prison facing yet another trial with an uncertain
outcome. To his friend Timothy, he wrote, "On your way here,
run by Troy and bring the cloak which I left. While you're at
it, bring the books, especially the parchments. Make every effort
to get here before winter." (2 Timothy 4)
In Paul's last days, he wants
his best friend, his overcoat, and his books. That roughly computes
to emotional warmth for his spirit, physical warmth for his body,
and intellectual stimulation for his mind. But he needed them
when he needed them.
As Jesus was entering Jericho,
a blind beggar had no way of knowing the Lord was on His way to
the cross and that this would be his last opportunity to meet
the Master. All he knew was that Jesus was the Messiah with a
heart of compassion. "Jesus, Son of David," he called,
"Have mercy on me!" That day Bartimaeus received his
sight. His timing was perfect. (Luke 18)
The Lord Jesus said, "We
must work the works of Him who sent me as long as it is day. Night
is coming when no man can work." (John 9:4) Timing in our
service for Christ is almost everything.
There is a key verse in the Bible
that calls on us to confess Jesus as Lord and be saved. That's
Romans 10:9. In other places we are told that when Jesus returns,
every eye will see Him, every knee shall bend before Him, and
every tongue will confess Him as Lord. The timing is everything.
Confessing Him now requires faith and results in salvation. However
to look up at some future date and see the skies filled with zillions
of angels and Jesus' glory emanating from every direction and
then admit that Jesus is Who He claimed to be takes no faith at
all. It's obvious, everybody will do it, and it changes nothing.
It's all in the timing. Confess
Jesus as your Lord now. Let's get started today!
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