Thursday, May 29, 2014

May 29: Time is short


But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time.  (Revelation 12:12  NET)

This negative sounding promise is actually very positive for those of us who take it to heart. The devil is fully aware of how little time he has left, and is filled with terrible anger, but can we say the same about Christians and the Church? Christians as a whole overemphasize peace — don’t rock the boat and just hold on until they reach heaven — but are not worried about accomplishing great things for God in this world. How many of the top 100 billionaires in the world are Christian? Probably not even one. But if there was, imagine what a difference he or she could make in spreading the gospel, not only monetarily, but through his or her testimony and example of faith.

Feeling too much peace makes us complacent.  It causes us to take our foot off the accelerator; it makes us weak. We should be worried and frustrated about how little time we have left to save souls, and to make an impact in the world. Does anyone doubt that drug dealers and prostitutes are bolder in pushing their products than Christians are in evangelizing to the lost? A person can risk his life over and over while serving the devil, change his life and get saved, and then be embarrassed to stand up for what he now believes. This is wrong. If the devil is filled with a terrible anger and knows that the time is short, we as God’s children should be angrier at the state of a suffering world, and even more conscious of how little time we have.

On the other hand, when the full force of the devil’s anger comes against us, we can’t become discouraged.  It’s just a sign of the devil’s frustration at being on the losing side, knowing that he only has defeat and punishment waiting for him. Whenever the devil shows he’s angry against us, we should celebrate — that’s a great sign!  It means that our faith makes him frustrated, threatened and afraid of us, and few things in life are better signs than that.

Let’s determine to make better use of the time we have, saving the lost and making a difference in this world.

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