Good morning:
There is a right time for everything, but does it ever seem as though your timing is off? You get to the store and have to wait an hour for the doors to open. You underestimate how many red lights will slow you down, and you’re ten minutes late for the doctor’s appointment. You stop at the gas station and the next day the price drops 20 cents a gallon. Before you get around to talking to someone you’d really to meet, they move out of state. It’s hard to know sometimes what the right time is.
Timing is never a problem with God. He is the creator of time. He directs it according to his will. He manages it according to his love for humankind. In the beginning he promised a Savior to rescue all people from sin and eternal punishment. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5). At just the right time Jesus went to Jerusalem to lay down his life as the payment for the world’s sin. In his perfect timing, he rose in glory on the third day. At just the right time, he is coming again to take us home.
So when is the right time to think about spiritual matters and prepare for eternity? Some put it off and say the right time will be when they have their career plans in place or when they are not quite as busy with home and family or that the right time is many years down the road when they are retired. Maybe you have had thoughts like that too. But this is not the time to procrastinate. “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
We make plans for the weekend, for next month, and years in the future. But the reality is we don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. The right time to hear Jesus’ invitation to come, believe, and follow him is right now before it’s too late. God’s timing is never off. He has graciously given us these days. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:16). We don’t have to wonder. Without a doubt, this is the right time to hear his Word and build our lives on him.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor
Our service tomorrow is at 9 a.m., followed by Sunday school and adult Bible class. The adult Bible class will look at how Jesus called the 12 disciples, and what that meant for them and for our discipleship today.
The quarterly voters meeting will begin after Bible class. All voters and those eligible to become voters are encouraged to set aside this time for the Lord’s service. Non-voters are always welcome to sit in on the meeting. Agenda items include: a report on the congregation’s finances, election of delegates to the delegate conference and CLC Convention, the setting of our CLC-CBP offering estimate, and the recommendation to call a third full-time teacher for the next school year.
