Timing

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV)

The next seven verses count off specifics items and their opposites – born/die, plant/pluck, kill/heal, break down/build up, weep/laugh, mourn/dance, cast/gather, embrace/refrain, get/lose, keep/cast away, rend/sew, silence/speak, love/hate, war/peace. That just about covers it, doesn’t it?
We live in a world that changes. Events of time and conditions of life vary from person to person. We continually pass others as the days occur. Just as fashions change from one season to another, lives change.

The recent cut in gasoline prices gives testimony to such changes. We are certain there will be fluctuations in the future. The same goes for our personal security, both individual finances and national security. There is no way we can say, “Tomorrow will be just as today.”

We are – and can be fairly – certain that the sun will come up tomorrow. However, there will be a time when that will not occur, according to the Bible. Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33 echo Jesus’ words:

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

But I like this one in Luke:

And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. (Luke 16:17 KJV)

The chapter begins with Jesus talking with His disciples, giving them an example of an unfaithful servant who through cheating received his lord’s commendation. He follows with:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10-12 KJV)

The Pharisees understood that He was describing them. They were stewards of God’s laws to the people, and they had cheated both God and the People. They were covetous, and God read their hearts:

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:14-15 KJV)

He read their hearts and what He saw was an abomination. His laws went unchanged no matter what the Pharisees said. Then Jesus gave the example of Lazarus and the rich man. Do we believe, as the rich man did, that one rising from the grave could convince us?

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:30-31 KJV)

He was right. One did rise from the dead, and most did not believe. Time passes, day after day. Each day one opportunity less to share His message, one less day to accept it.