James 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
I remember being in the 2nd grade at school, thinking about how many years I
had left before I graduated high school. I admit that I never liked school.
I had 10 years left before finishing the 12th grade. Talk about depressing
for a kid in 2nd grade who didn't like school! That day finally came and I graduated
high school. Yea!
Then I remember being at Hyles-Anderson College. I did love going to Bible college, chapel was my favorite, but it was still school, and I didn't like school. Besides, I was driving 130 miles a day, three times a week, to get to Bible college and work, which is why it took me 8 years to graduate in 1993. I remember in my 2nd year of Bible college figuring out how many years I had left, and I still had a few years to go, at least. So I decided to just take it ONE DAY AT A TIME. I didn't even notice the time pass, and before you know it, I was walking across the platform at First Baptist Church of Hammond, and Pastor Jack Hyles handed me my diploma. I love Brother Hyles so much and could never express in words what he means to me, and I thank him dearly.
I picked up one of my old books from my library today titled: “Sword Scrapbook II,” by Miss Viola Walden. The book is a collection of edifying writings published over the decades in the Sword Of The Lord paper. I found the following edifying article, which I want to share with my dear web visitors:
Gone With The Wind
By Cam Thompson
Picture a madman hurling twenty dollar bills into the Atlantic, or an idiot sowing diamonds into a swamp, and you have a good view of how we are dispensing the golden vials of TIME, which God places in our hands at each sunrise.
The average life of a fundamental Christian is 75 years' duration. He spends six months in worship, six years in eating, nine years in amusement, seven and a half years in dressing, six years in traveling, nineteen years in working, and twenty-three years asleep!
We hear our friends say, “I wish I had time to read my Bible and pray and witness.” You have it. Each morning twenty-four hours are presented to you. You have time to read three chapters or five chapters, systematically, a day. You will never make an inch of spiritual progress unless you do. Yours are the desert and the snakes and the sand and the wandering and the murmuring, if you substitute sermons or isolated verses, or devotional books or radio programs. “The words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE” (John 6:63). You have time to pray—to sit at the feet of Christ Jesus—one or two hours each day.
Dr. Walter Wilson decided to keep a minute record of how he passed each minute of the day. He was appalled—and you will be appalled—at the hideous waste of time. We are all experts on how the government wastes money. But at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we shall give an account of OURSELVES, and what we did with the days that shall never be repeated, never be replaced, forever and ever. “This I say, brethren, the time is short . . .” (1 Cor. 7:29). “Little children, it is the last time . . .” (I John 2:18).
—From Christian Victory
I was convicted just typing that out!
Notice that nothing can substitute for the Word of God in our daily life. Most churchgoers today have been inoculated from the truth of God's Word, by everything from Christian radio, commentaries, websites, books, seminars, magazines, meetings, films and devotionals. Only the Holy Bible contains the words of God! We cannot find the SPIRIT and LIFE of God in man's substitutes for the inspired Word of God. Pastor Jack Hyles preached this very same truth!
Here's another intriguing article that I found from the Sword Scrapbook II, with an unknown author...
When as a child, I laughed and wept, TIME CREPT;
When as a youth I dreamed and talked, TIME WALKED;
When I became a full-grown man, TIME RAN;
When older still I daily grew, TIME FLEW;
Soon shall I find in traveling on, TIME GONE.
And here is another edifying truth to glean for your soul...
Boast Not Thyself of Tomorrow—Proverbs 27:1
The only preparation for the morrow is the right use of today. The stone in the hands of the builder must be put in its place and fitted to receive another. The morrow comes for naught, if today is not heeded. Neglect not the call that comes to thee this day, for such neglect is nothing else than boasting thyself of tomorrow. —G. Bowen
And I love this one...
All I Want . . .
I can't afford to be lonely now—
I wouldn't want to trouble anyone nohow,
My help soon comes o'er the rocks and rills;
My help is coming from o'er the hills;
No more sorrow, no more pain,
no misty eyes like a frosted pain—
All I want in the bye and bye:
a home with Jesus beyond the sky.—Charles H. Huey
Aren't those precious truths? Sure they are! I ran a couple errands today. I gave a Gospel tract to the attendant who kindly put gas in my car (I never ask for anyone to fuel my car, I like to do it myself, but he beat me to it). Here is the .PDF tract, if you would like to print and share it with others. It is a tri-fold brochure, which prints on a standard sized 8" x 11" sheet of paper. If we were to witness to just one person each day, that is 365 people per year! Every day of life is one day less we have remaining. May we redeem the time as God's children. If you have never accepted Jesus as your person Savior, please do so before it is too late dear reader. Life is short, Hell is hot, and eternity is never-ending
I watched the following helpful YouTube video titled: “How To Manage 'Your' Time” (it is really God's time, as Joshua Chavez tells viewers in his excellent video). Time is the greatest treasure that we have to give God. 1st Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Our earthly life is nothing more than two dates and a vapour in between. I was curious about the sudden death this week of Broadway celebrity Laurel Griggs, who died of a massive asthma attack at age 13. I was surprised on Google to find literally hundreds of deaths of 13 year olds, from everything including: electrocution, a car crash, drowning, hit by a train, mysterious death, a sucker punch from a friend, mugging, drug abuse, obesity, brain tumor, football practice, physical exhaustion, a heart condition, murdered by a school classmate, crushed between a bicycle and a car, cheese thrown at a classmate (allergic reaction), accidental shooting, autism, a fall, a boy beaten by girls, playing a dangerous game, a bully attack, being left in a vehicle, falling down stairs, collapsing in a playground, farming accident, et cetera. I got these all off Google! Go search and read it for yourself (and that's just for 13 year olds)! Great fluffy biscuits in the morning, there are so many ways a person can die!
The $64,000 question is: Are you ready to meet your Maker? There were over a billion beautiful young girls and handsome young men in the 19th century, but they are ALL dead today—every single one of them! There is NO ONE alive in the world today from the 19th century! Your life is as a vapour dear friend, and our time here on earth is short. ...
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
