We Need A Sense of Urgency

I think a sense of urgency is necessary, people. I can’t say for America what’s going to happen to Christians, but I’ve asked God that if it’s going to take something persecution-oriented to bring us to the place where we get a grip on what we ought to be, then let it happen. As I was reading about Kefa Senpangi and his church, I just couldn’t help but think of what they went through. You know, he started out as the church began to grow, and it was a nice group of people, and they filled this area where they would meet every Sunday.

And he would preach, and they would have a wonderful time. And then all of a sudden, when Ammon came to power, and they thought everything was going to be great, the church seemed to me, didn’t grow very much. And then all of a sudden, something strange began to happen. People began to disappear, and people began to die. And Kefa went one day to call upon a family that was very dear friend, and he walked to the front door, and standing inside the front door was a little boy, twelve years of age, with his hands sticking straight up in the air, frozen, transfixed in a state like that of traumatic shock, in which he had already been for two days without moving.

He went further into the living room, and found the eyeballs and the tongues of every member of the family lying on the floor. He went from room to room, and found that every one of them was dismembered and killed. And the little boy had seen it all. And all of a sudden, there was a new sense of urgency. All of a sudden, there was a sense that these are the evil days, and how much time do we have? And the people began to meet for prayer, and they met not just at prayer meetings, but they met and prayed all night long.

And so many people came for the all-night prayer meetings. They couldn’t get them into the place they met, and they would be sitting and lying on the ground outside all night long praying. And they would go from there to evangelise to win people to Christ, because they didn’t know how long it would be. And it was a few short years, and the church was gone, and Kepha was gone. A sense of urgency. And now, as he gets letters, even to this point, from people who are back in that place, he hears of those that are still being killed because of Christ.

The urgency, people. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know what the evil day brings. Maybe the most evil day of all is the day in which everything is so easy that we lose our priorities. Maybe that’s the most evil of all. The church would thrive better under Idi Amin than it does under affluence, in many cases. It’s been true all through history, you know. The blood of the martyrs becomes the seed of the church. I’m not asking for that. I’m just saying that we sometimes don’t understand urgency. We don’t see the evil day, because we are sucked into the system and the line is not clearly drawn.

Beloved, it’s an evil day we live in. I have a sense of urgency. I don’t know how long God’s going to give me, but I’ll tell you one thing. I’m going to give him all the time I’ve got. I have a sense of urgency. I don’t know when Jesus is going to come. One of these days, he’s going to split the heavens with his coming, and he’s going to end it all, and he’s going to set up his kingdom. And I want that day to come, but I know that there’s a sense of urgency until he comes.

And I know the world isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse. Second Timothy 3.13, evil men grow worse and worse. Romans chapter 1 says they invent new sins all throughout human history. The world is blacker. It’s more expressive of its vices than it’s ever been. And we must redeem the time. The word redeem is in the middle voice in the Greek. It means buy up for yourself. And that’s a beautiful thought. It isn’t saying hoard your time for your benefit. It’s saying buy up for yourself the time in this sense. When you redeem the time, you benefit because God blesses you.

You walk on the narrow way, and you walk circumspectly, and you walk accurately, and you make the most of your time and the most of your opportunity. And God will pour out blessing to you so that it’s actually true that you’re redeeming the time for yourself. Use it up in the way that can give God glory. Every day, think of it on a daily basis. Every day, God gives you opportunity. Every day, there’s an opportunity to do a righteous thing and to shun a sin. Every day, there’s an opportunity. There’s a golden jewel that God places in front of you that can be grabbed for his glory.

Some people are always going to pray, and they’re going to get down to business to study the Bible, and they’re going to serve the Lord, and they’re going to tell their neighbour about Christ, and they’re going to read the Bible. They just never get to it. The greatest fool in the world is the fool who wastes time, who spends opportunity without a return. You know, in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10, it says, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith. As we have opportunity, we are to grab it.

What about your personal time? You’ve been telling the Lord for years that you’re going to spend some time with him. Do you do it? Or have you just let opportunity after opportunity go by and never redeemed the time? What about time with your spouse? Do you take those precious times when you could contribute to her or to him what he needs or she needs? What about the children God’s given you? Not many years and they’re gone. What have you contributed? What have you done? What have you given? What does the time have to say? What about that ministry, those spiritual gifts, that thing you’re always going to do for the Lord? But you can never really get to doing it because everything isn’t just perfect the way you wanted it or because you’ve got other things to do.

We are lulled to sleep by our fat society. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of We Need a Sense of Urgency. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong, and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].