I was working at the church this week and our faithful volunteer Rodney came in and we started talking about lightbulbs. Through our discussion, a lightbulb came on for me. We were discussing that our lightbulbs keep burning out because our receptacles are so old and need to be replaced so they can support the new LED bulbs and then he said- “but in the meantime”- and it hit me. In every way we are all very much in the meantime and what we do with that space is so very important.
Through my study of Ezekiel, I have come to realize spiritually how important “in the meantime” is and that one of the Israelite’s biggest mistakes was to second guess God during that time. Because certain prophecies didn’t come to fruition in a timely enough way for them, they stopped believing and stopped working for God. And it cost them big. It’s what turned their hearts astray. It’s what proved to be their distraction from who they were and whose they were and the reason they didn’t stay the course.
There were certain things that were promised to them AND expected of them and there are certain things promised to us and expected of us. We are commissioned to share the love of God, the news of Jesus, and to make disciples. Always easy? Not so much. And we will often feel inept at what we are doing, but that shouldn’t stand in our way. I remember when my middle son Jeremy started as an intern at Bloomberg News, he told me every time he would call someone to interview them for a piece and he would identify himself as “Jeremy Hill with Bloomberg” he felt like a fraud because he wasn’t seasoned and wasn’t a formal employee yet, but as we were talking this out the thought came to me that he was not a fraud because he had been commissioned by Bloomberg to do a job. Seasoned or not-experienced or not-he had to step out and represent them with his absolute best.
A couple of things I want us to see today: we don’t have an unlimited amount of time on this earth, and we have been given a commission. Once we became believers, that commission was in full effect. Get in the game friends. Pray every day asking the Lord to give you the opportunity to share the good news and to effect those around you by how you live your life. Get with other believers so you can learn and receive strength and encouragement. Find a Bible Study or small group. Get to church when and if possible and get involved. I don’t know much but one thing I know for sure, if you still draw breath, God is not done with you yet and it very much matters what you are doing with your “meantime”.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”-Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)