Timing

The thing about the Bible, to me, is that no matter what I happen to be reading for the day, it always seems to convict me about something. Now, I don't really know if I like that or not! I mean, on the one hand it means that the Bible is relevant to life and I am definitely okay with that. But on the other hand it implies that I have a lot of junk in my life that needs convicting about, and to be honest I don't like admitting that I'm sinful and have things that need fixing! Wouldn't it just be easier if God could let me be and not keep forming me into His image?

Anyway, here is yet another example of the conviction of the Word in my own life:

"Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.'" John 7:6

When I first read that verse this morning, I thought, 'Oh, yeah, Jesus is talking about how His time on the cross has not yet come, He's just biding His time until the final act when He saves us all from our sins.' But something struck me and I had to read it again.

I think it was the word 'always' that did it. Here I am reading a verse and passing all the responsibility of glorifying God through sacrifice onto Jesus, when the whole key to this verse rests on me and my calling. Jesus said, '...your time is ALWAYS HERE.' I feel like maybe an exclamation point needs to go there because He is emphasizing my responsibility as a Christian.

What am I here on earth for? "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." I'm not here to just be laissez-faire and say that someone else can share Christ with the people of this world. I'm not hear to just have "fire-insurance." I am here on earth to give my whole life in sacrifice to God. I am here to give up my wants for His wants, my desires for His desires. I am here to share Christ with every person that I meet without regard for consequence, reputation, or anything!

And what do I do instead? I sit, stand, walk, and talk through life while letting opportunity after opportunity pass me by to share the love of Christ. I push my responsibility off onto other people, but go to church regularly and worship so that I can feel good about myself.

Like Penn Jillette (an atheist) so convictingly said in a recent video, "How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and NOT tell them that?"