The importance of not putting things off gets highlighted when we realize how quickly the past fades into an unconnected reality. How quickly we forget things that we should have done, people we should have visited, and ways we should have responded to the needs of others. The whole concept of “bearing fruit” (John 15:2) is to do as much as possible with the time God gives us. We recently received a list from David Harrington that reminded me how quickly the past fades from our memory. Do you realize:
1) That the Beatles split up 52 years ago?
2) That Elvis has been dead 44 years? (He would be 86 today.)
3) That the movie “Wizard of Oz” is 82 years old?
4) That Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video is 38 years old?
5) That John Lennon has been dead 41 years?
6) That Mickey Mantle retired from baseball 53 years ago?
7) That the Ed Sullivan show ended 49 years ago?
8) That the “Brady Bunch” TV show premiered 52 years ago?
9) That the triplets on the TV Show “My Three Sons” are now 52 years old?
10) That the Corvette turned 68 years old this year?
In Luke 16, we read about the “Rich Man” and “Lazarus.” The rich man wanted to get the message to his brothers that they needed to conform to God’s will. Abraham responded to the rich man that no one can go from the existence of the dead to the living. All the years that the rich man had to meet the needs of Lazarus were forgotten. We should be using our time now for bearing fruit by doing the things Jesus described in Matthew 25:31-40.
— John N. Clayton © 2021