BRIEF MOMENTS

I Was Just Thinking About – BRIEF MOMENTS.

The past Lord’s Day, I was privileged to preach a Morning Sermon on the subject of MOMENTS MATTER.  The text was taken from I Corinthians 15, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” A Moment is defined as: “A very brief period of time. An exact point in time.”

It reminded me of how precious each moment of our lives and each day is. In Psalm 90:12, The psalmist reminded us: “Teach us to number our days – Our Moments -  that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” In James 4:13-14, we are reminded:  “Now listen, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist (A Moment) that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

As I was preparing the sermon, two particular Hymns began to drift through my mind:

Once to every man and nation, -

Comes the moment to decide,

In the strife of truth with falsehood,

For the good or evil side…

Another Hymn that was written in 1893 that came to mind was: Moment By Moment…

Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He doth not bear,

Never a sorrow that He doth not share,

Moment by moment, I’m under His care.

Refrain:

Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

The Sermon application connected moment with immediately.As and when Jesus was calling disciples to follow Him, how did Jesus want them to respond to his invitation: Come! Follow Me?Could they have stated a reason for delay such as: (1) We have to repair and store our fishing nets? (2) We have to off-load the catch of the day/night? (3) We have to discuss this matter with our parents, especially our father who depends on us, about a change of course for our lives and an imminent departure? None of those questions or thoughts would be acceptable. At that moment, they left want they were doing immediately – and – they followed Jesus.

The term immediately means: Without any lapse of time; Without any delay; Instantly…at once. The Synonyms for immediately are: Instantly; urgently; in a flash; without delay or hesitation; without any lapse of time… How important is a moment of time for the genuine/authentic Christian? How do you respond to the Scriptural directives of Jesus for your life and commitment to His will?  He expects you to respond in a moment…immediately? Do You? Do you routinely procrastinate (delay; postpone action; put off doing something)?

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.