Wednesday-Times Up

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

1 Peter 4:5,6

One of the things that makes sports so entertaining and exciting is that eventually time’s up. There’s an end. No matter the sport, it eventually stops. It may end in a tie, but it still ends. Games, races, and tournaments all end. Seasons run their course and end.

And when time is up, everyone stands around and immediately talks about what everyone did right and wrong. Each play and player is examined for all the good and bad things they did. There’s slow-motion replay so everyone can jump up and down about their success or failure.

This is what it means to give an account. There’s nowhere to hide. What they did is there for all to see. They can’t deny it. Yes, they can try and explain why there did what they did, but there’s no way to just walk away from it. All anyone can do is to take it.

When Peter talks about giving an account, it’s something that will happen. And while we haven’t experienced it yet, it’s coming like a freight train. When it happens, there will be no doubt about it. We won’t be able to ignore it. No one could miss this.

Giving an account means to return something to its rightful owner. We got it from someone else and it’s time to return it. This life didn’t just pop up out of nothing. Out of nowhere. Not on your life. It’s from God and there will come a day when we’ll give an account for what we did with it.

Think about the time you paid off a loan. Someone gave you money to use for a car, a house, or something else. Everyone agreed what was going to happen and you started making payments. And then on that day, you made the last payment. Your account was settled. Everyone got what they deserved.

I remember being assigned to a project. The idea was to build a universal tool for insurance agents to enter and transmit data to and from insurance companies. At the time, there were a whole bunch of software products that did a pretty poor job of it. And since they all “talked” in a unique way, it was like you needed a room of fax machines because they only “talked” to themselves and no one else.

Anyway, I did not do a good job managing this project. As a matter of fact, I did a really bad job with it. Eventually, I had to give an account about the project. So, when I updated the company management team, it wasn’t pretty. The executives told me exactly what they thought about me and my abilities. I was demoted, probably should have been fired.

So, if we expect to give an account to the people we work for, why do we think it so unusual that God would do the to us. After all, he gave us life as a gift, so we need to give an account for how we’ve used it. He sees everything and has all the information to make a good and right decision.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:13

I’m now going to say something unusual. But since it’s me, it’s something to be expected. Yes, God will make us give an account for what we’ve done. But he’ll also make the people give an account for what others have done to us.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

I can’t think of any other promise of God that can gives more peace than this one. God’s watching and he’s going to make them pay for all the pain, heartache, and suffering you’ve endured. Our great God and Heavenly Father’s going to take his vengeance out on them for us.

That is unless we make them pay for it. If we lash out at them, God will pull back and do nothing. When we take vengeance for ourselves or others, we take it out of God’s hands. I can’t think of a worse thing to do. Think about it. How weak and soft is our vengeance in comparison to God’s?

If what they did was so bad, why wouldn’t we want them to get the worst punishment possible? That’s just not going to happen when we take out our own vengeance. God and God alone knows how to do that. How to get under their skin. How to make them pay.

Time’s up. It’s time to let go of our anger and bitterness. For some people it’s a long and slow process of releasing each hurtful thing one at a time. For others, they’ve experienced a immediate release of all their pain at once. Now’s the day of salvation. Now’s the time to let God be God and take care of you. If he was willing to send Jesus to the cross for us, he’ll also take care of all the people who’ve hurt you so

Noodling Questions

• Do you like it where there’s a time limit to something? Explain.

• If God makes promises to us, why are we so afraid to make promises to him?

• What’s stopping you from releasing your anger and rights to God?