By Asst. Pastor Micah McCurry
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
Time is the only currency one can never recover once lost. It's ethereal and vaporous. Once a fleeting moment passes it is gone forever.
Our cavalier attitude with the time given to us presents no issue or worry until we realize what time really is. Time is simply an investment. An investment put into us by God. Our wasteful usage of time becomes a problem when we remember that he expects a return on his investment.
Imagine standing before God and giving an account. What if his investment in us was represented by a pie chart? How thin and anemic would the slice of time given to God be?
We have been blessed with more supposedly time saving technologies than any other people in history. Our vehicles get us from point A to point B quicker, giving us more time. Our phones give us the ability to communicate at the speed of light, giving us more time. Our first world food service industries can provide us food in mere minutes, giving us more time. And yet we still have no time.
The slow creep of time is not so timid anymore. Our world has begun a walk, a jog, a run, a sprint toward the inevitable return of Jesus Christ. Like no other time before, It's Time.
You ask, "What time is it?". It's Time to Stand. Too long we have taken a back seat while the World, the Flesh, and the Devil have driven us toward destruction. It's Time that we stand for God, His Word, and Righteousness.
1. It's Time to Start Standing
“Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. ”
Standing up is easy when everyone else is standing. There is nothing impressive about following the group. It is great if you have friends and family supporting your decisions to follow Christ but it is time to start standing in spite of who is sitting around you.
Peer pressure is a fact of life, it is not an excuse. Jesus did not abandon Calvary because the disciples abandoned Him. We have a responsibility to stand in spite of our circumstances.
Maybe you have never taken a stand. You have just gone with the flow and not made any waves. Sooner or later you will have to make a decision or the current and flow will make the decision for you.
We all have reasons that we should not be the one to take a stand and follow God. Moses had a stutter, Paul had a preexisting condition, David was too young, Abraham was too old, Noah had never seen rain, Peter always put his foot in his mouth, Ruth was the wrong ethnicity, Rahab had a past, and on and on it goes. Don't use your crutch as an excuse, think of it as an extension of your reach. There isn't much difference between a shepherd's staff and a crutch if you are pulling hurt people out of a pit that you used to be in.
2. It's Time to Stand Still
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”
We already have enough shakers and movers in Christianity. We have enough big names. We have enough people that want to rock the world. What we need are people that will just stand in one place and never move.
Never move even if their mentors move. Never move even if their family moves. Never move even if their Bible College moves. Just never move.
I don't mean that you don't move geographically if God leads you. I mean "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;". Our world is running full tilt towards Hell and the only thing that will get their attention is God's people standing firm like a lighthouse.
Friend, It's Time.
Time to Stand.