The Deadline

            We have all been up against a deadline.  Perhaps the teacher demanded that the paper is due on a certain date and will mark it down for any delay.  The deadline for making our car payment is always in front of us.  I think we are all familiar with the deadline called April 15.  A deadline has been defined as a fixed, non-negotiable, target date for getting something done.  I recently discovered where the word “deadline” had its origin.  During the Civil War, Union soldiers were held in the prison camp at Andersonville Georgia.  In the camp there was a certain line that prisoners were not allowed to cross.  If they did, they would be shot immediately.  That line was called “the dead-line”.

              The Bible also speaks about a deadline.  God is patient and full of grace.  He loves the world so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins.  He desires everyone to repent of their sins and believe in His Son.  Yet His patience has a limit.  There is a deadline.  When Noah was told to build an ark, he worked on the project and also preached to his neighbors that God was going to judge the world with a flood.  They ignored him, and only his family got in the ark.  When the rain started coming down, God shut the door.  They faced the deadline and it was too late.

            The wonderful salvation God has provided is offered to everyone.  In 2 Cor. 6:2 He tells us: “…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”.  God gave us His Word so we can plainly read how to receive His Son.  He has given us so many opportunities during our earthly life to prepare for eternity.  But there is a deadline.  That deadline is death.  We never know how much time we have to live in this world.  Many are so focused on the pleasures of life that they fritter away eternal life.  Believe in Christ today, your deadline is coming soon!