Hymn 40, “God’s time is now Do not wait a more convenient time.” We have no convenient
time; none of us have much time; every day is very precious; there will never be a more
convenient time. We read in Hebrews, “Today if ye will hear His Voice harden not your hearts.”
We all want to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit, but we must be willing today for if we put it off, it
will be the same as hardening our hearts. Respond today! A man not professing said he was
planning to make his choice. I never heard that before! I thought, “Why not now?” But later, he
did make his choice and is doing well. If the Lord speaks, we have to do it here and now – today;
not wait for a more convenient time!
There is a little girl of 11 years over where we are. She said, “I just want to come into the
Kingdom Heaven while the Door is still open!” To think a child of 11 could see the urgency of
making her choice.
Joshua said, “Choose ye today whom ye will serve, whether the gods whom your fathers
served. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He wanted them to choose today;
there is no more convenient time than today. When we begin to walk with God, there are many
choices we have to make; let us not put them off for a more convenient day. His Holy Spirit may
depart if we don’t choose today.
The Psalmist says, “I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His People!” In
Ecclesiastes, it says, “When thou vowest a vow unto the Lord, defer not to pay it.” The young
people sit in Convention and wait for the older ones to take part, but we love to hear their
testimonies and prayers of the young People. All of us have been young once and we know the
struggle of the human heart, and nobody understands the struggle more than the Noble Youth
of Galilee! There will never be a more convenient time than today. We may even want to put off
the step of baptism, but if we feel there is nothing to hinder, let us be like the Ethiopian Eunuch
who said to Philip, “See here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?” He felt it was a very
precious opportunity and may not be another chance. He wanted to make the most of his
opportunity.
I don’t know if I am frightened today, but when I was young, I was very frightened to be buried
before I was dead. It is like baptism today; not to take the step until the old man is dead – the old
Esau. There should not be anything to hinder us; we being dead to all that. We sing in a Hymn
about the Spirit given to a little child; it is the same every day, when old may say, “I am too tired
and too old to pray.” I hope we will not be like that. Samuel was an innocent little boy when the
Lord spoke and he said, “Speak, for Thy servant heareth.” He did not wait for a more convenient
time.
Jesus called His Disciples, Peter and Andrew, when they were fishing and busy working and the
same with the sons of Zebedee. They were mending their nets and they could have said, “We
are so busy and cannot leave our father now and the fishing. It is not a convenient time for us to
leave today; perhaps another time!” I am so glad they did not say that, but they went, and they
had only three and a half years – very short years – to serve their Master and walk with Him and
learn of Him.
When I was on the Pharaoh Islands, I had some good quality wool, but got it wet. Even when
wet, it can be worked, and I got it in a frightful mess and we sat up all night trying to get it right.
We felt we would not have courage if we put it down. Fishermen feel exactly the same. You
know when you are busy with an intricate bit of work, you don’t want to put it off. It is wonderful if
the Spirit speaks to you about the Work and you would be willing even if you have great
responsibility towards your family. Don’t put it off for a more convenient season. Today is the
most convenient time.
The Spirit also comes to old people and asks something of them. When the Lord spoke to
Zacharias and Elizabeth about being parents, they were very old and stricken in years. Lots of
old people love to be grandparents and I suppose there are lots amongst us today, but what if
the Lord expected you to be a parent, that is another story, and would that be convenient? You
might be entrusted with a new born babe in your Church, and perhaps not so convenient and
you feel you are out of practice with young converts. There are some out of fellowship and you
can give them the warmth and love they need. Don’t say “another time.” Just accept this
wonderful privilege, even in old age. It is a wonderful thing!
There was a time when a lot of people were flocking around Jesus and the Disciples said, “Send
them away.” Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat!” There were hungry people and it was a very
inconvenient time to feed these 5,000 people, but Jesus gave us a wonderful example in this
and He did not want to send them away. That time with the woman of Samaria at the well –
Jesus was not too tired to help the poor soul in need. I hope none of us will be too tired to help
others in need. In Denmark, they have set times for meals and it is very inconvenient not to
disturb people, but Jesus taught us to be willing to be disturbed even at a very inconvenient
time.
It must have been very inconvenient for that Good Samaritan to help that poor man. He was
traveling and had packed his things and got his animals all fixed up and it was very inconvenient
for him to stop, but there is a wonderful message in this for us. He did not put it off for another
day. The need is here and now to see to! When we were on the Seychelles Islands and
travelling on a boat, we saw a flash on the horizon and immediately the Skipper turned, knew
there was danger. Then the engine cocked out, but this skipper was willing to go to all the
inconvenience, not only for himself, but for the passengers. That taught me to be more willing to
do things when inconvenient for that is where we get the greatest blessing – doing things
completely inconvenient to us.
Truth Archive 