We typically use the phrase “the moment we have all been waiting for” to suggest we have arrived at a long-awaited time for something to happen. The key is it’s a time we have been expecting to come—you know, like graduating from high school or something like that. That is how we are in our secular lives, but it is not how it is with the Lord.
Luke 26:42-43 says something similar but in a different and more profound way. It says, “Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today, you will be with Me in Paradise.’” This scripture is talking about a conversation Jesus had with one of the criminals who was crucified alongside Him.
The thief was crucified that day for crimes he had committed. I’m sure he wasn’t looking forward to that time coming. But he was crucified alongside Jesus, and that made the time different. When the thief saw all the commotion going on down below about Jesus, he thought surely this must be someone special.
The thief came to the time when he knew he had to pay for his crimes. I’m sure he had thought about that time and what it would be like when it came. The thief, like many of us, probably thought in terms of a time that he had anticipated to come. Time doesn’t care about who we are. There is a time to live and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to be joyful. A time to plant and a time to reap. Time comes to us all with the things that time carries.
But this time, Jesus brought this thief to something he did not expect. He brought a Moment. It was a Moment the thief knew wouldn’t just come and go. This time, time brought to him a Moment in which he knew he would die, but he would also live to be with Jesus for eternity.
In times past I have lived my life like that thief. I looked at the time I had to live, and I tried to live it to the fullest. You know the saying, “live life to the fullest.” Generally, that means we live trying to have more of the things that make us happy. We live trying to have what really matters. We live wanting to have and achieve much.
Funny thing happened to me along the way to having a life like that. I spent my time seeking things I thought would make me happy, yet I found it was missing the Moments that defined my time. I remember the time when the Moment came to me that I understood happiness was impossible without having the Lord in my life. I wanted the Moment more than the time.
I understood the time I spent trying to have what really mattered was a waste of time the Moment I realized that having Jesus as my Lord was all that really mattered. I wanted the Moment more than the time.
I understood the time I spent achieving much didn’t mean much the Moment I realized it was through the Lord I had my greatest achievement. I wanted the Moment more than the time.
Listen, if you are like me, you have lots of times in your lives that are missing the Moments that make the time great. We are no different from many who have lived before us.
Noah lived in a time when he thought people did all that they wanted to do. All that changed the Moment God spoke to him and told him to build an ark.
Abraham lived in a time when people wanted to stop wandering about, but all that changed the Moment God asked him to leave his people and go to a place he didn’t know.
Joseph lived in a time of bondage being sold as a slave by his own brothers. But all that changed the Moment he realized God wanted to use his circumstance to prepare a way for his brothers to be saved from a famine.
There was a time when Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. The lions thought he was to be their dinner. But Daniel had a Moment with God Who used the time to shut the mouths of the lions. The lions went hungry that time because Daniel was saved in that Moment.
I could go on, but I am hopeful you see the point. You have times in your life that are missing the Moments that Jesus wants to show up. Don’t be so busy spending your time living that you miss the Moments Jesus is trying to say to you, “I have something special for you.” In all your time living and doing whatever you do, don’t miss the Moments that Jesus wants to make your time special for you.
And if you still find that all your time is spent living trying to save yourself from all the troubles that are out there, stop! Be like that criminal on the cross. Turn your time of living apart from the Lord into an opportunity for the Lord to come into your time and create Moments you will come to cherish.
There are times we all live for ourselves even when we know the Lord. Then there is the Moment we give up living our lives so that we can receive the life He has waiting for us. The time to stop living apart from Him happens the Moment you decide to live for Him.Live a Delivered Life. Love you
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