While we have many poems in our files awaiting publication, we seem always to have them designated for filler pages which get filled up at the last minute by items of news or current activities. Hence our apologies to those who like poetry. This month, however, we plan to publish at least one poem by including it as part of the editorial. The following was submitted by Bro. Len Cooper of Manitoulin, ONT.
How Host Thou Spent Thy Time?
I stood far from the judgment seat, head bowed in bitter shame,
Within my brain, words echoed long, for I had myself to blame.
I had seen the King standing there, beheld his glorious face,
And just aside, in joy supreme, my friend-saints, saved by grace.Engulfed in grief, alone, afraid, my pleadings all in vain;
The words re-echoed louder now and burned within my brain.
Come now! and so I went before the one d longed to see,
Said angels standing near the throne: The Master calleth thee.To give account of what! had done, one reason I was asked,
Why! neglected things of God, and hurrying by them passed.
I then recalled how oft d said, 0 dear there is no time:
l’ 11 do it well another day; that had been my crime.I answered not, dumb, full of guilt, but Jesus knew and said;
No time to do the things of God. No time to bow thine head,
No time to kneel in daily prayer or wait till him you heard,
No time to pause or meditate upon the riches of his word.No time to visit poor and sick. No time to smile and give
The stranger in your gates a word of hope, that he might live;
No time to weep with those who weep. No time to joy with one
Whose victory over human sin was well and truly won.But you had time for menial tasks, and time for exercise.
Your mental powers and common things, your home to supervise;
You found the time to read and talk, of things that mattered not,
But things that mattered most to God, you spurned and just forgot.That was enough, I heard no more, those words continued long;
My talents lay neglected there, to him they did belong.
But! had forgotten they were his, and cast them on one side
And now before the throne they lay, I then my face did hide.The saints remained there on the right, safe in the Savior’s cleft;
But! was thrust among the ones on the Master’s left.
Those words which burned within my brain set out my crime,
No place no hope no righteous crown, for you! had no time.A dream you say, but oh how real; and what relief to wake, to find
I still had unspent time,’ ere the judgment morning break.
For me the Savior scourged and scorned, up Calvary’ s hill did climb;
What shall I say when he shall ask, “How hast thou spent thy time?”
Exhortation not theology
Like biblical allusions to the judgment seat, the purpose of the above is exhortation, not exposition.1To that end, the author admirably captures the spirit of the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:12-27). The warning is — beware sins of omission.
“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
For many, this is how most sins are committed. Those who know the Gospel but have not yet repented and been baptized are not doing what they know they should. Those who have opportunity to care for those in need and don’t do it are omitting to do what they should, as are those who have money and are not generous with it. If we have opportunity and ability to preach or teach or serve in some other capacity and are not doing it, we are wrapping our pound in a napkin.
Not this year
This is not the year for inactivity. From all indications, we are much too close to our Lord’s return to delay using our opportunities. We are four years from the start of the seventh millennium; and, if our calendars are really off by four years, we are even closer than that.
In Revelation, we read of seven churches, seals, trumpets, thunders and vials. Surely this number speaks to us of a completed divine cycle.
We note, as well, the fact “God did rest the seventh day from all his works” is not accidental wording but is deliberately phrased by Him whose plan was “finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. 4:3-4). Living as we do, when all the indicators cry out that this is the end of the age, surely we can see the divine pattern — the seven creation days are a brief preview of this creation; seven speaks of a completed divine cycle.
And now the exhortation takes on greater urgency than ever: “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb. 4:7). Now is not the time to put off till tomorrow what we know should be done, “to day.” This is not the time to commit sins of omission — not ever, but especially not this year.
- This is perhaps why we have such an array of opinions among us as to the details of post-resurrectional judgment. The Lord’s concern is evidently not that we have a precise picture of the events, but that we so live as to be acceptable to him at his coming.
For example, in Matthew 25, the parable of the bridegroom has the righteous accepted when the rejected are absent; the parable of the pounds has both classes together, giving personal accounts individually to the Lord before being separated, while the sheep and goats has both together but the separation occurring for everybody at the same time followed by discussion with the Lord.
While there may be room for discussion regarding precisely what is going to happen, the exhortational points are crystal clear: we are now to be full of the Word, using our resources in service to those who are Christ’s.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One