- In the 20 minutes it took me to write this more than 2,217 people died
- According to statistics someone dies at least every 1.8 seconds
- Boy does time just fly by as we get closer and closer to eternity
Have you ever noticed as you get older how days, weeks and years, seem to fly by? When I was young a year seemed to be such a long a time. I can clearly remember in school how long the school year was and how it seemed like summer would never come. Now it’s as though “20 years has passed in just a day”. While romancing my wife to be, it seemed like an eternity between telephone calls and the times we could hold hands and now before you know it, it’s your 45th anniversary.
If you ask the scientific community, you’ll see many thoughts, such as “Your brain’s internal clock runs more slowly as you age — which means the pace of life appears to speed up.” Others suggest “the perceived passage of time is related to the amount of new perceptual information you absorb; when you’re young, everything seems new, which means your brain has more to process… which means the perceived passage of time feels longer.” Then there’s biochemical research that shows the release of dopamine when we perceive novel stimuli starts to drop past the age of twenty, which makes time appear to go by more quickly.
Yes, all kinds of theories for this phenomenon just trying to explain why as we age time seems to fly. I am closest to this one. Based on the idea that we perceive a period of time as the proportion of time we have already lived. First proposed in 1877 by French psychologist Pierre Janet, the “ratio theory” suggeststhat we are constantly comparing time intervals with the total amount of time we’ve already lived. For example, for a two-year-old a year is half of their life so it seems an extremely long period to wait between birthdays when you are young. Thus, when you’re 60 one year is only 1/60th of your life. So, the time between birthdays seems to get shorter and shorter, as if time is speeding up.
The reason why we find ourselves saying, “What Already” so often, in my humble opinion, is this. The closer we get to eternity it seems to me, the faster time becomes because time ceases to exist there. God created time for us when He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14). But in Heaven, that is eternity, “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 22:5). James asked and answered, “…What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14) and the David said, “You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude” (Psa. 39:5) and he also said, “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” (Ps 144:4) We have all heard “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Pet. 3:8). Powerful reason to consider your life and the inevitable end of it and “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
Time ceases to exist, and as we get closer to our physical life’s end we, by the grace of God, begin to understand this life is not all there is. The ability for every person to relate to God’s gift of time in relationship to eternity is why I believe that even the most hardened Atheist at the point of death, will “wonder”, what is on the other side.
Paul in recalling events leading up to his salvation said, “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me.” (Acts 22:6) A man named Ananias who was sent by God (Acts 9:10-11) came and told Saul what he had to do to have his sins washed away says, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16) Saul did what he was told he had to do, quickly and without arguments. Saul became Paul and continued to preach this same gospel.
When Saul saw the “great light” and heard a “voice”, it was that of Jesus. The next time that “great light” and “voice” will be heard, it will be heard by everyone and will be on the day of judgment and on that day we won’t be told what to do to be saved but rather where we will spend eternity according to the word of the Lord and our faithful obedience to it or our faithless disobedience. All choice will have ended, judgment will have come. The day is coming quickly, “Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION” (emphasis mine) (2Cor 6:2). With time slipping by faster and faster, why would you wait another moment. We say happy New Year but, for many this new year coming may only be a twinkle, for some it will never come at all for death will take them.
Will you hear the words of God for your faith (Rom. 10:17)? Will you believe God and diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6)? Would you confess Jesus before men as the Son of God as Jesus commanded and as Peter did (Matt 10:32, 16:16)? Will you repent of your sins according to the command (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30)? According to the word of God will you by faith be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38, 22:16)?
If you refuse to obey the word of the Lord, the Lord’s words will condemn you to “…eternal punishment” (John 12:48; Matt 25:46). If you do obey the commands of the Lord, doing these things and remain faithful till death (Rev. 2:10b; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) then when time ends and you step into eternity, you will hear the words, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt 25:34)
I don’t always understand why it is so hard for so many to accept the words of God and obey them. I know that some just can’t accept truth (2 Thess. 2:9-12), and this is so because for most have experienced years of contrary teaching by educators, parents and friends. This is why the Lord says that there would be few that find eternal life (Matt 7:13-14) and most tragic is that in the end they’ll all want to enter Heaven’s gate, but it will be too late. Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). We don’t need to be the majority, we just need to be in Christ which occurs only through being baptized into Him (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27), and then continue to abide in His doctrine so that we will have both the Father and the Son (2 John 9). He is sufficient and those who obey him, though the few, they have always been victorious, because He is.
So, don’t find yourself facing eternity saying, “What, Already?” For the good news has never changed, you don’t have to be silent, and you don’t have to wait, you can obey the gospel of the Lord today.
God Bless you
In Love
Dave Scarpino