The Time is NOW

“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…” (Acts 13:36).

         I was already fired up about this verse.  On Friday I was meditating on it, thinking about the truth that our lives are short.  “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).  We are only given NOW—this generation, this lifetime, this span in history—to serve the purpose of God.  All too soon, it will be too late.  That was my mindset on Friday.

         The very next morning, I received word that a friend’s husband had died.  I’d known them both since college and remember those days vividly; now he’s gone.  Four years ago, this same couple lost a 5-month old son.  One day he was smiling and cooing, bringing joy to his family, his whole life stretched before him; the next day he was gone.

         Thinking about my friend’s grief brought much sadness and reflection…and motivated me all the more to consider that verse from Acts.  We don’t know how much time we have.  It’s so easy to spend our thoughts, time, conversation, days, and even our entire lives on things that have zero impact on eternity. 

Yet, we live in a world that’s full of people who are without Christ, and thus, without hope (Ephesians 2:12).  We live in a world where evil is called good and good is called evil (Isaiah 5:20).  We live in a world where people are steeped in the enemy’s lies and have little knowledge of the truth.  We live in a world where professing Christians worship and have more zeal for people and things than they do for Christ.

We only have NOW to serve the purpose of God in our generation.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a soldier for Christ.  I want my allegiance to be to Him and Him alone.  I want to know the truth and contend for the truth, and thus expose the enemy’s lies.  I want to be unashamed, unafraid, and uncompromising.  When this phase of my life has ended, I want it to be said of me, like David, that I served the purpose of God in my generation.

How about you?

 

Heavenly Father, teach me to number my days, to know that each and every day should be lived for Your glory.  Help me to live in the light of eternity, to contend for truth, to be unashamed of the gospel.  May I serve Your purpose in my generation, in Jesus’ name, Amen.