By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed. D.,
excerpt from “Preacher Spurs”, Christian Faith Publishers, 2022
Bible references: Mark 14:27, 41; John 12:23, 27, John 17:1, Matthew 6:27, 27:45-46, 1 Corinthians 15:30, 1 John 2:18, Luke 12:11-12, Revelation 3:10.
Can I preach for an hour? Would you mind? How long is an hour? Ever spent a long hour?
Let me list a few long hours: an hour in a dentist’s chair, an hour in an emergency room while you are overcome with pain or fear, an hour waiting for word about someone you love after an accident, an hour driving in traffic, an hour waiting in an airport terminal, an hour in an MRI examination, an hour in hard labor. How about an hour-long prayer meeting? An hour you must decide.
Compare those with a short hour: an hour watching your favorite sport, an hour visiting with a loved one you miss, an hour on social media, an hour taking a nap, an hour out to eat, and an hour touring on your motorcycle. How about that hour before you go to work or school or have lunch? An hour you must decide.
Time is relative, and few people understand what that means. An hour is not any longer or shorter than 60 minutes, but about specific events, those minutes and that hour seem long or short – therefore, time is relative to what is happening in our lives during that notable hour.
I once watched an action-packed show supposedly recorded in real-time for one hour each week. It was called 24. It was intense to share the same time with someone going through such traumatic and dramatic events. Every second was recorded as the show star was pulled from pillar to post for an entire hour. It was a fast hour-long show that kept everyone watching at the edge of their seat, often challenging to keep your eyes open, yet you didn’t dare miss a minute. Honestly, it wore me out.
Jesus took three disciples, Peter, James, and John, to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus asked His disciples to pray while Jesus went to pray by Himself. But they couldn’t stay awake.
Mark 14:27 – “And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour?”
Jesus had many hours our Bible describes as both beautiful and horrendous. Hours of happiness and hours of stress, sorrow, and pain. Jesus also told us of hours we needed to look forward to that are yet to come. They may not seem relative to us right now, but they will likely be the most critical hours in our lives.
Matthew 6:27 – “And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?”
Speaking of our lives, I’m sure everyone knows no one is getting out of this place alive. But, of course, I’m talking about this vehicle that turns around the Sun called Earth. If the Rapture doesn’t take us and transform us on the way home, we will all experience the next level.
Matthew 24:44 – “Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
Concerning the Rapture, Jesus tells us there is an hour in which He is coming, but we won’t know when it is. He also tells us that we might be tested for an hour before the Rapture.
Rev 3:10 – “Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour, which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. He will save us from our last hour.”
What are your life’s most important, significant, and relative hours? The hour of your death? The hour of your hardest tribulation? How about the hour you decided to accept Jesus as your Savior? You don’t know when those other hours will come, but you can control this one. You can choose to make this hour the most critical hour in your life, and you can make it relative to the rest of your life and for all eternity. So, pick this hour and decide your eternity. Choose Jesus this hour.
