Short time.
We all have short time.
Whether we live one more day or another 50 years, our time on this earth is limited. What does that truth inspire in you? Apathy? Fear? Angst? Fire? Pressure? Excitement?
Running out of time to finish something that we really want to do our due diligence on can be very stressful and irritating. We cry, "If we only had more time, we could do justice to this!" We could do the same with life. We could cry and fight and kick and scream because we just can't get done everything we want to get done. We could just throw our hands up and give up because, "we won't be able to do it the way we want anyways so what's the point," or... We could embrace the reality that we have short time and make the most of what time we do have.
These are two different ways to see our situation that drastically impact the way we live our lives. Will we live life coveting what we don't have, or will we be content with every drop of life God has given?
Paul embodied this in the way he "ran" as God's missionary after Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He had lost so much time persecuting Christians and trying to stomp out "The Way." Now that he saw "The Light," literally, he was fired up to make use of the time he had left to preach the good news of the crucified and risen Jesus, in season and out of season, whether wanted or not, through weakness or strength. There was no time to complain or ask, "what if" or "if only," instead Paul "ran" through life as if it was a competition that he was going to win for Jesus. No excuses. No complaining. Just running as if to win the crown while knowing the Kingdom of heaven and all eternity waited for him at the finish line because of His Savior.
Christians, we have short time!!! Are you going to spend it making excuses or complaining about how much time you have or how insecure you feel? Or are you going to get out there and "run" the race of life with all that you do have for as long as your race will be? "Run in such a way as to get the prize!"
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
In His service and by His grace,
Titus Buelow - Founder of Underground & Pastor at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Helenville, WI