Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Deadlines

Time is short (1 Corinthians 7:29).

Deadlines—we hate them.  There never seems to be enough time to get everything done.  There never seems to be enough time to get things ‘just right.’  It always seems as if the clock is rushing us, dictating our priorities.  For many of us, vacation and retirement look appealing simply for the freedom to live without deadlines.

Yet many people thrive under deadlines.  The pressure of a ticking clock fills them with excitement and mental clarity.  Having a deadline gives you an excuse to shove everything else to the side and focus all your attention on a single goal.  As the deadline looms ever closer, you can stop trying to juggle multiple projects or worry about office politics.  Having a deadline also engages your competitive nature, makes project completion a win or lose proposition.

The simple fact of the matter is that we need deadlines.  We need deadlines to stop us from putting off things we don’t feel like doing.  We need deadlines to keep us honed in on doing important stuff instead of getting distracted by trivialities.  We need deadlines even though they often drive us crazy.

There’s a big deadline coming up that everyone shares in common.  That deadline is your death.  All of us are operating under a strict time limit.  There is no way to negotiate an extension.  And the stakes are high—at the moment when life ends, God will render a decision—either you join Him in heaven for the biggest victory party ever, or you wind up with all the other losers in the pain-filled darkness of hell.

Life’s great deadline should give you the passion and single-mindedness to get your priorities right.  God won’t reward a life that was devoted to bad habits and selfish behavior.  The King of the universe focuses on your relationship with Him.  He sent His Son to make that relationship possible; Jesus took responsibility for every bit of your bad behavior, and suffered the punishment that you had coming.  When death puts an end to your years of work, God will look at what it all amounts to.  He will judge that your work was poorly done, rushed in places, and incomplete.  But if you have Jesus standing at your side, God will forgive what is lacking and welcome you into eternal rest.  Time spent now on your relationship with Jesus will ought be your highest priority.

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