08/27/2025
In Nashville we had a total eclipse of the sun in the year 2017, and although it took a while to reach its totality, or the period of time in which the moon totally covers the sun, the totality itself lasted for two minutes or less. Quite often the period of time in which God shines His light of opportunity on us is short as well. If we miss the chance to see or to act upon the calling God presents us, we may never experience that particular opportunity again.
“So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.”
John 12:35 ESV
The moon eclipses the sun bringing darkness, but on the other hand God gives us light. In the 180 degrees of this imagery and its separation they are similar in one respect... the limited duration in which we can experience them. So, what I want us to think about this morning is how quickly life comes and goes and how little time we have to answer the call of God... both to salvation, and in serving Him by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus warned His disciples that He was only going to be with them a short time longer and that they needed to take advantage of it. But he also asked them a question about how keen their observation of Him was and it went like this...
“but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Matthew 6:23 ESV
Hmmmm.... this implies that much like the gradual movement of the moon across the sun produces varying degrees of darkness before totality, our view and experience of Jesus can yield degrees of darkness as well. Our faith is not simply an on and off light switch. By virtue of how we accept and serve the Lord, we will experience varying degrees of light that is Him. Our obedience can be like a dimmer on a light switch.
I have found this to be true in my life. There are times when I immediately and completely answer a call from God, and then there are those times when I have procrastinated until the opportunity was gone and I have failed. Time limits us and it moves in one direction carrying our consciousness, and opportunity to act, with it.
One afternoon I saw a car on the side of the interstate, and a little further along I saw a man walking towards the distant exit for help. He had probably run out of gas. The Lord immediately told me to pull over and pick this man up, but as I struggled with my fear I passed him by and in an instant the opportunity had passed me by too... so, just as surely as I had passed the man my opportunity to obey and serve had passed me.
On another evening Ann and I were going to dinner and had parked our car in a parking garage down the street from the restaurant. As we left the garage and walked onto the sidewalk a ragged and bent woman asked me if I had any money that I could spare. In a pleading and nearly crying voice she said, "I am so hungry." We were just about to walk past her when the Lord spoke to me... and I immediately turned around and handed her enough money for dinner. As we walked on I thought to myself that she was probably going to buy alcohol with that money, and indeed she might have, but the call of God was my guide, and when we returned to our car she was gone.
In both instances the call came, and in one of them I put off answering it until the moment of truth had passed me by, but in the other I answered immediately. The light switch in each of these instances was either on or off, but when our lives are looked at spiritually, the light often appears to be tinged with a shadow of darkness... it has a certain brightness to it that will never be fully complete without our yielding to the promise and presence of Jesus in it.
As I continue to contemplate this topic, I am reminded of a wonderful quote I heard in school. Sometimes we hear quotes attributed to nonbelievers, or those of other faiths, that are so profound and filled with truth that over time we forget their origin and begin to feel as though they must be scriptural. One such quote comes from Omar Khayyam (a Muslim philosopher, mathematician and poet)) and the beautiful translation of it into English by Edward Fitzgerald (a man of whose faith was questionable). This piece of Khayyam’s famous poem “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” is incredibly insightful and profound as it deals with our topic this morning....
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it." - Omar Khayyam
Our time in the light with Jesus is brief and so is the time we have to know Him before judgement. As we come upon Him we must make a decision... do I believe or not, and then once we have chosen to believe we are faced daily with experiences in which we must continue to choose... do I pass by, or do I stop to do the bidding of Christ? Do I change my life in order to answer the calling of God, or do I continue to walk down this familiar worldly street I have been traveling alone? Will I make decisions that will bring me eternal life, peace, joy, and redemption, or will my decisions alter my life in such a way that all my tears can't possibly wash away my eternal regret?
The time we are allotted to accept Jesus as our savior is short, and the time we have, to make individual decisions regarding following Him, is shorter yet. There is no yesterday left to us beyond our memory, and tomorrow may never come; so, where do we stand? How faithful are we in answering the call of the Lord when it comes to us each day? How bright is our light?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your light in my life, and your Son Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World. Thank you Father for the total brightness of Jesus that perfects me and washes away the darkness from before me. Holy Father, open my eyes to see your path, and make my hearing keen as I listen for your voice. Then, in my moment of decision I pray that there is no delay or thought that keeps me from running to you and Jesus while answering “I believe!”. I praise you Father for each lesson I am taught through your instructions as I travel my life. Thank you for the hungry souls I have fed at your request, and thank you for the lessons you have taught me when I didn’t obey and passed by hungry souls… leaving them starving. Lord Jesus help me to understand the path I should take and light the way for me. Holy Spirit, lead me in discernment and confidence. Most Merciful Father, forgive me for those moments of delay in answering you, and teach me to be more obedient to you in my faith. Great are you Jesus, and greater yet the Father. I praise your names each day. I praise you as I serve you, and I praise you as I find you waiting, even when I have failed you in some way. Your patience is complete and your forgiveness shines without shadow in the light of Jesus Christ who redeems me, and purifies me as He washes me clean in His brilliance. Holly, Holy, Holy, are you my God who not only speaks truth, wisdom, and righteousness into my life, but embodies those things. Holy is you Son Jesus my Savior who lived, suffered, died and was resurrected while feeding and saving my soul… and leading me to you. I pray that I will glorify you always because all glory is most certainly yours Father, and I love you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Don’t let me miss or overlook a single moment or word with you Abba!
Amen.
Rich Forbes