Thy will be Done...the Wayfarer 3/15/19

Have You Any Time for Jesus

Matthew 10:32-33

King James Version (KJV)

³² Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

³³ But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Confession, or denial, choices given and taken daily as other choices are made to accept the TRUTH of this statement by Jesus, or to accept the lies given us by his adversary through the concepts and constructs offered by our own kind.

Time is taken, by each, for the perusal of goals that are established, by each, for themselves. Those very goals bear witness to confession or denial.

Today’s title comes from another old hymn found in the hymnal I so often go to, this time with the adaptation of that hymn from the version published there to one possibly more familiar as sung by a popular gospel singer well known to so many.

Have You Any Time for Jesus

Mahalia Jackson

Have you anytime for Jesus

While life's fleeting moments roll?

In this mortal life too busy, Lord, too busy
When you can't think about your soul

Soon we gonna summon at the portal, my Lord
To the mansion in the sky
And you will then sign your depart... your departure
And you will then take time to die

(You know) it's time for business
And there's time for pleasure
And there's time just to think about your sins

You have not take time to ask the Lord
Why don't you invite him to come in?

Soon we gonna gather one day at the river
Just beyond the shinin' blue, oh
And if you have no time for Jesus
Well, he will have no time for you

Soon we gonna gather one day at the river
Just beyond the shinin' blue, oh
And if you have no time for Jesus
Well, he will have no time for you

Both versions of this old hymn remind the listener of the same consequences stated in the opening scripture, a reminder that is too often neglected in the affairs of men’s busy lives, as goals for those lives are pursued, both for themselves and their progeny.

It seems that there is always time for concern about politics, wealth, pleasure, power, and the plethora of wants that consume the minds of all men, but little if any available for concern available for the souls of those men.

A popular song of the secular world in my youth was titled NO TIME.

It was a lamentation of the waste of that precious commodity given us as a gift at birth, but one that failed to lament the greater waste of the eternity beyond that time that should be of far greater concern.

The concerns of that time, great as they were, troubled as they were, confusing and dangerous as they were, gave way to the time in which we now, temporarily, exist, still more troubled, confused and dangerous, as attempts to correct the wrong concerns, untangle confusion that resulted only in more and greater of the same, and to rectify dangers by creating far greater dangers.

The cries of sex, drugs and rock and roll turned into addictions and dismissal of those addictions as normal, or as medical problems to be solved by more of the same chemical solutions that were thought to create them.

Newer, more potent, more addictive “solutions” were, and are offered the youth today, as the real solution is still ignored, bypassed and dismissed by the continuing belief in man’s ability to fix the problems he himself has created, despite those problems deepening, growing ever more beyond the capability of mere men to ever solve.

The cries for equality that rang so stridently, and often justly of that bygone time are now turned into a complete mockery of their intent as that equality is demanded for the ability to pursue destructive behavior, both toward society as created by men, and toward mankind itself.

There seems to be plenty of time for men to discuss and pursue goals that lead only to further deterioration of an already corrupt and deteriorating world, but no time for discussion of GOD’s plan to make correction, and the means already given for that correction, of individual lives, of nations, and the species created for a far better goal than any he has sought for himself.

Time is relative, it is said, by those thinking that it will always exist, sadly never understanding the fragile and uncertain amount of that time that is apportioned to them.

Time IS finite… eternity is infinite.

Decisions are equally infinite, as are consequences of those decisions.

Jesus Himself spoke often of both decisions to be made, and consequences of those decisions.

The ongoing thread throughout the lessons taught by Him throughout His ministry was constant reminder of the availability of redemption given by repentance, and the infinite quality of that redemption.

The clarity of that message is undeniable, unchangeable and unchanging despite a seemingly changing world, that is, in fact also regrettably unchanging in its refusal to accept the unchangeability of God, and the inevitability of HIS decision.

From Genesis through Revelation, warning has been sounded in conjunction with promise. As warning was ignored consequence has been and continues to be faced. As warning was heeded and accepted promise has been and continues to be delivered.

Genesis 6:3 KJV

“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”

God’s mercy and patience is enduring, still mankind rejects the grace given him in full knowledge of the transitory nature of his physical life.

Jesus came to us, clarifying through His Love, through His life, through His sacrifice, through His resurrection that assures the eternity of our SOUL, with the simple message of repentance for redemption…ours to confess and accept, or to deny and face the consequence of that denial.

 Acts 17:30-31 King James Version (KJV)

³⁰ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Ignorance is no longer acceptable excuse, either for that denial that of itself constitutes comprehension of what has been offered, or of the necessity to confess Christ Jesus before men.

Confession of faith in man and man’s ideals, man’s goals, man’s plans for himself will not be winked at as they also are comprehension of the denial of God himself through the rejection of his Son Christ Jesus.

Time is fleeting. It is finite. It should be used wisely.

Do YOU have any time for Jesus?

He MADE time for you!

Amen and Amen

CMc