"To everything there is a season; a time for every purpose under heaven." So begins one of the most eloquent discussions of time and the seasons of life ever written. Solomon, who had the reputation of being the wisest man who ever lived, wrote those words.
We all pass through seasons of life. Some are pleasant, others distasteful, even distressing. Solomon, Israel's third king, found himself in an enviable position. His father, David, had secured the kingdom and made it prosperous. Solomon reigned in a time of peace and was able to pursue any and all interests that came to his mind. And whatever he did, he did with utter abandon. By the way, after he had tried most of the things that people find important, he came to the conclusion that life without God was meaningless. Though this man had absolutely every advantage any of us could imagine, he was still subject to the passing of time. While he was wise, he also learned a lot of things and wrote them down. Here, from Ecclesiastes 3, is what he learned about time.
"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.
What profit has the worker from that in which he labours? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour it is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past." Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
For all of us, there are times and seasons in life. When we are young, it's hard to even imagine that we will ever be old. We can't picture ourselves with white hair, sagging physique, and the seemingly inevitable aches and pains that come with the years.
There are all kinds of times and seasons reserved for specific purposes and activities in our lives. There are over a hundred references in the Bible to specific times and hours. In the Old Testament, we read of certain times when events in Israel's history coincided with the agricultural cycle - the time of sowing, the time of harvest, the time of vintage, and so on. Those with some experience on the land will know that these times are important. There is a certain urgency about them, for if you miss the time for sowing, you will certainly miss the time for harvest. There's no way to catch up.
Frequently, throughout His ministry, Jesus spoke of "the hour." And whenever he talked about the hour, He was referring to the time of his death on the cross for us. The apostle Paul picked up on this way of alluding to time by referring to his impending death as "the time of my departure."
Time plays an important role for all of us. We measure our lives by the ticking of the clock. What time is it for you? Time divides our lives into seasons - infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, middle-age, and whatever comes after that. We define others by where they fit in those categories. Each of those categories is associated with limitations and restrictions that come with them.
Some of us deny, or at least work hard, to minimize the impact of those limitations and restrictions. We like to think there's always hope. I hate to tell you this, but there is a last time for everything. Your last trip out of the country, your last concert or sports event, your last new car, your last cup of coffee at your favourite coffee shop, your last visit with your best friend, your last breath.
Life has some strange twists and turns and they have a habit of cutting short our plans. If you say "no" often enough, eventually you'll say it for the last time. Now, that's not deeply spiritual. It's just logical. If you keep saying "no," and your response is always the same, eventually you will say it for the last time. Either, people will get the idea and quit asking you or the end of life will sneak up on you and you'll be done saying anything.
The big question is this: "Is there a last chance to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour?" Well of course there will be. There will be a last chance. You might ask, "Well isn't this the age of grace? Can't anyone come to the Saviour at any time in this period of human history? Isn't God's love limitless?" Well, yes. But this is also the age of your limited life. God's grace may be limitless, but your life isn't.
Quite simply, there will come a last chance for you to receive Christ as Saviour and after that, there will be no more. If you keep putting it off, you'll cross the line. There are people who will be forever shut out of God's heaven because they always said "no" to the invitation when they heard it. Eternity without God - not because of some definitive decision to reject the truth - just because of an unwillingness to accept the invitation on any specific occasion it was given.
Not long ago, I was talking to a friend who told me, "Something happened this week that kind of bothers me." (Oh, what was that?) "An old family friend died." (I'm sorry to hear that.) "But that's not what bothered me." (Oh, what's the trouble then?) "What really bothers me is that for two years, I'd been planning to visit him and I just never got around to it. Every week, I'd put it off. I'm too busy just now. I'll go another time. Next month the pressure will be off. Two months down the road I have some vacation time coming to me, I'll go see him then. But this week he died and I never went to talk to him." There was a time when it was too late. And there will be a last time for everything.
There are all kinds of "lasts" that come along in life. There are last chances that we are faced with all along, but we don't know when it is the last chance. This may be the last chance, but you don't know. You may have 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 good years ahead of you. But there will come a time when your heart won't be as sensitive to spiritual things as it is right now. God is speaking to you and if you pass it up, you may never again be this open to taking the step of faith.
You probably won’t die today or next week, not likely next year or maybe for fifty years, but this may be your last chance on some issue to which God is speaking in your life. Deadlines are a fact of life. Every year we're faced with filing income tax forms. Every year my accountant encourages me to get my papers in order so that he can process them on time. I have to pull the information together and get it to him before time runs out.
Deadlines happen. What time is it for you? The Bible talks about time in this way. Paul writes in II Corinthians, he quotes God saying, "In an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you." Then Paul adds "Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation."
There is a sense of urgency. Now is the time. Don't put it off. You don't know if this will be your last chance. As we read in Ecclesiastes 3, God requires an account of what has past, don't let this opportunity add to the debt, let this opportunity clear the debt. That's the challenge before us.
Today God is saying to you "Come now.” He says, "Come now and let us reason together says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool." So what is God inviting you to reason together about? Simply this: God is holy and we are not, so we are excluded from His presence. That is just the fact, we are excluded from His presence and from having any kind of relationship with Him and because of our unholiness there is nothing we can do to approach God. Remember unholiness cannot exist in God’s presence. However, God is loving and gracious and He knows that we are helpless to approach Him ourselves. So, He has taken the first step. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us.
Most of us like it when other people make little sacrifices for us. A favourite meal, prepared a special way; someone does some little chore we'd really rather not have to do; some unusual slightly extravagant expression of affection; an invitation to go somewhere we'd never be able to afford to go on our own. We like it when other people make sacrifices, but imagine, God sacrificed His Son for you. His life for yours.
The only way to take advantage of this literal "once in a lifetime offer" is by accepting that it is true, by believing it, by opening your heart to it. Now is the day of salvation, now is the day of stepping into the next phase of your relationship with God. Don't pass up this opportunity. You never know, it may be the last.
Ron Hughes
© May 2007