Time Waits For No-One

Reminiscing my past, I remember a Sunday afternoon sitting in my living room with my dad.  We were just kicking back after eating a delicious meal my wife had prepared.  Mom had passed away one year prior at the age of fifty-eight. 

A little chuckle under Dad’s breath caused me to look his way.  He was staring out the window in deep thought.  I asked him what was so funny.  He answered, “I was thinking about my life and how quickly it has passed.”  He continued, “Yesterday I was in school.  Today I’m seventy-two years old.  Where did the time go?”  Then he said something I haven’t forgotten.  “You’ll find the older you get the faster the years go.”

I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, because I was only thirty with a lot of living ahead of me.  I was young; had three small children; a wonderful wife; and my health was good.  I had plenty of time to enjoy life before thinking about how much time I had left…but something happened.

I blinked twice and behold I was at retirement age.  How did I get here so quickly?  I remember my thirtieth birthday like it was yesterday.  Ironic, yet funny, I’m telling people the same thing Dad told me.  “The older you get the faster the years go.”  I now understand what he was saying that Sunday afternoon.  Time waits for no one.

The older I get the more I am looking back on life, just like Dad.  It’s unbelievable to think I’m in my mid sixties and now retired.  That’s for old folks; not me.  Wow!  How amazing!

All three of my children are married with families of their own.  My youngest son finished college with a doctorate degree at the age of thirty.  When did that happen?  Thirty!  Where did his youth go?  Where did mine go?  Incredible!  But wait…he is now thirty-four years old with a baby on the way.

The older I get the more I realize how short life is.  The Bible states in (James 4:13-14) that life is like a vapor.  “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;’ whereas, you do not know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Though a person lives as long as Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, 969 years are of little consequence if the years they spend on earth are without the peace of God and they die in their sins.  Hell is forever!

I’m glad I made the choice to serve God at an early age.  I was twenty-three; the year was 1969.  I have found God to be faithful in every way my whole Christian walk.  My only regret is not coming to Him sooner.  I should have stayed in church through my youth and early adulthood.  Instead, I backslid and walked away from God, which allowed heartache and misery to buffet me on every side.

It is never too late to enjoy the born-again experience of having your sins forgiven by God.  As long as we are alive and able to think rationally, there is hope for our soul through Jesus Christ.  A person should never put off till tomorrow what is best for them today, because we have no assurance of tomorrow.  It is wise to repent, while there is yet time.  Forgiveness is free for the asking.

The moment God forgave me of my sins was the best thing that had ever happened to me.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; there is no other way to make heaven our home except through Him.  Either we possess the Lord and His mercy, or we don’t.  Either we are Christians, saved by His grace, or we’re not.   There is no in-between.   

Yes, life has its problems, but with the Holy Spirit helping us every day, anything's a cinch.  He directs our steps if we allow Him to do so and calms the raging storms around us.  The hope that He gives every Believer is eternal life in heaven; not hell.  Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow.  It’s ours if we want it.

I share my faith with those that don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior.  I try to encourage them to say yes to God before they spend another minute getting any older.  Time is fleeting.  We are not as young as we use to be.  Each of us has a destiny to keep.  It is the inevitable.  Death will come sooner or later. 

Every moment that we wait to invite Jesus into our heart is a gamble, whether we are young or old.  It is gambling our eternal destination on the contingency of whether or not our heart continues to beat.

Thank God for this moment that we can say, “God, forgive me of my sins and come into my heart.”  No matter how old we become, if we miss the opportunities that God provides for us to repent, when our time runs out it is too late then.  This moment is your opportunity to invite Jesus into your heart.  God is calling your name.  Listen to His voice.  Salvation is just a prayer away.  Don’t wait.  Time waits for no-one.

(2 Corinthians 6:2), “For He says:  ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and the day of salvation I have helped you.’  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd