When Our Time Runs Out

               Do you remember when watches had to be wound up?  Before the quartz revolution in the 1980’s most watches were run by a mainspring that required a daily winding of the watch.  Most of those watches would last 30 to 40 hours on a full wind.  I remember fondly my Bulova watch with a green face my wife purchased for me.  Whenever I forgot to wind it, my time would run out and it had to be set again.

            One day, all of our times will run out.  These physical bodies are marvels of God’s creative design.  He has allowed us to extend our lives through medicines, surgeries, and healthy lifestyles.  Some people even live to over 100.  But sooner or later our mainspring will quit and our time in this life will run out.  I remember what Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes. “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them": While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain” (Ecclesiastes 12:1-2).  He then describes the gradual decline in our physical bodies that happens to every one of us.

            We need to think seriously about the fact that one day we will die.  God has told us that it is appointed unto man once to die… (Heb. 9:27).  However, death is not the end.  The rest of that verse says: “but after this, the judgment”.  The Bible also says that we will spend eternity in either heaven or hell.  I am so thankful that when Jesus died on the cross, He took our judgment on Himself and paid for our sins.  When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ we are promised eternal life.  John 3:36 says: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him”.

            Those who have placed their faith in Christ should not fear when their time runs out, because that is when their eternity begins.