THE TEST OF TIME -- Monday:
"While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept . . . But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware." KJV (Matthew 25:5; Luke 12:4-5-46)
Time stands between you and eternity. It is the gap between "before" and "after," the line of demarcation between eternity past and eternity future. This is the ultimate tester of your faith -- of your profession. We have no idea of the length of time. That has not been revealed, although it is known by God. In fact, He has established the duration of time, and what is to occur within its boundaries.
Had God revealed the exact hour when time would conclude, and the heavens and the earth pass away, it would have changed the entire religious landscape – and not for the good. Think how men would live if the precise moment of the conclusion of all things was as certain as the fact of that conclusion. It seems to me they would wait until the very last moment until engaging in preparation for eternity. They would even more tend to forget they were mortal, and that time is temporal. In fact, Satan has labored tirelessly to obscure the momentary nature of time. Even he knows men will not seek or serve the Lord as long as they remain unaware of the passing of time.
As one in Christ, there are difficulties that stand between you and the "exceeding great reward" (Gen 15:1). There are also blessings to be enjoyed -- blessings that will delight your heart. These difficulties and blessings are the extremities of experience in the faith-life. Both difficulty and blessing test our faith. Difficulty, in all of its varied forms, applies pressure to the soul. Working through adversity, the devil tempts us to quit. Blessing, on the other hand, if not embraced with thanksgiving, can lull one into complacency. But these are not the greatest tests.
Time is the greatest tester of all. Many have stood during great trials, but have fallen as time rolled its cycles forward. Others have responded marvelously to blessing, only to grow dull of hearing as time marched onward. Many souls that began well, receiving the Word "with gladness," have only endured "for a time," because they had no root in themselves (Mk 4:16-17). They could not stand the test of time!
Those who come to Christ must prepare for a long and arduous journey. It is true that your journey may be short, but it must be traversed as though it were long. All of the amour of God is required (Eph 6:10-18). The necessity of "the whole armor of God" and "vigilance" reveals our situation. The faith-life is to be addressed as a long and demanding journey. No other posture is acceptable.
Our Lord Jesus clearly enunciated this truth. "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods . . . After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them" (Matt 25:14-19). "Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time" (Luke 20:9). "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom . . . While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept" (Matt 25:1-5).
A "long time" describes more than a lengthy sequence of years. "Long" can be a perspective as well as a period. A brief period warming oneself by a fire can seem longer than three years of being with, and hearing, the Master (John 18:25ff). The time of trial always seems longer than a season of blessing. Hardship appears to lengthen time. The "pleasures of sin for a season" (Heb 11:25) always makes time seem longer than it really is. As well, to have many days sometimes deceives men into thinking they are guaranteed of many more to come.
A "long time" indicates that life in Christ is often lived in a lonely and challenging posture. The fight is demanding and the race strenuous. Sometimes it is extremely difficult, requiring every ounce of strength that we have--and more. Our longing is for the Lord to return, and take us to Himself. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we anticipate being there with our Lord and the assembled heavenly host. Unlike faith, time makes it appear as though that is a "long time" away.
The Lord has been gone for nearly 2,000 years – a "long time!" He is, as it were, tarrying, or delaying, His coming in order that the strength of our faith may be known. If we are not durable, we will not make it! But, faith IS durable, able to confront and conquer any obstacle during the time our Lord is tarrying. It holds on to this word. "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (Heb 10:37). What seems "long" to flesh, is "a little while" to faith. That is precisely why faith overcomes the world. It knows "the time is short." At the very moment life seems to be "long," we are tottering on the brink of disaster! Time has thus confused us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You that faith endures the test of time.