TIME & TESTIMONY

There are only two commodities possessed by a believer in Jesus Christ that are of any real value. They are your "time" and your "testimony."

As to "time," most of us who survive into the 21st century will have used 2.5 billion seconds by the time we celebrate our 80th birthday. As to our "testimony," we are what we are. A fish is not a bird, a plow horse is not a race horse, and people are either "in" Christ Jesus, i.e., "born again" as described in John's Gospel, or they are not.

People either have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling them as much as they are made of blood, bone, or muscle - or they do not possess the Holy Spirit of God. They know it, you know it, and so too does God know it. The great mystery regarding our "time and testimony" is that God allows us to make decisions on both issues that determine the quality of our life on earth and our personal eternal destiny.

Lets talk about your time. What makes your "time" on earth of any value? Without a testimony for Christ your time on earth is ultimately worthless, isn't it? If you live your full 2.5 billion seconds, find a wonderful spouse, raise a great family, obtain a magnificent education, and accumulate all of the material possessions that you could possibly wish for - all before you breathe your last breath on this earth - what have you accumulated in the Bank of Heaven?

Conversely, should you die having received Jesus Christ as your personal savior, but having accumulated none of those earthly treasures, then your life will have been a great success.

Life without a testimony for Jesus is a passing vapor, a meaningless event on the pages of history. But, let's assume that you do have a testimony for Jesus Christ. You have invited Him into your life, his Spirit indwells you, you start your mornings with His presence as an integral part of your life. You then have a certain portion of those 2.5 billion seconds left available for you to use each day. Specifically, you have 86,400 seconds each day and 31,536,000 seconds each year to accomplish something for God.

Of course, eating, sleeping, and other basic activities take a certain portion of that time, but each of us has some responsibility for the time remaining to us. What will we do with that time that will have eternal application? What does God want us to do with HIS Time that we are managing? Well, for those who have no testimony it is clear that they should use their time to reconcile themselves to God. For those whose testimony is weak, tarnished, and well nigh invisible they need to seek God's restoration to active duty. You see, we really have no guarantee for tomorrow despite our daydreaming about winning the lottery.

It is always sad to watch people fritter away their opportunities to serve Christ while waiting and waiting and waiting as their life slips away like sand between their fingers. But you do have a testimony, don't you? You have given yourself to Christ "hook, line, and sinker." You have entered his joy, you have received his peace, you know his rest, you reflect his attributes, don't you?

So what can you do with those 2 variables, your time and your testimony. First, you need to write your testimony on paper. Your testimony needs to be communicated to others. You may re-write your testimony 5 or 10 or 20 times before you are completely satisfied, but when you are finished you should have two pages of paper that contain your personal testimony.

Then, you need to speak your testimony. It needs to be told to others. At first you can speak to rocks and trees, but then you should look for people. You can start by telling other Christians how you invited Jesus Christ to become your Savior and how that decision has impacted your life. Next, ask God to send someone to cross your path who needs to hear your particular testimony.

Your story is important to people whom you have not even met yet. Christianity has been described as one beggar sharing his loaf of bread with another beggar. It's true. We have nothing of value other than Jesus Christ and our testimony of how he came into our life and indwells us. We have nothing of value to share other than that testimony. There is nothing another person needs more than our testimony. All of us have given $1.00 or a can of food or a bag of clothing to help the material needs of poor people.

But, it is our time and our testimony that they really need.