Christian Living

---

"Ten more minutes!" the hairdresser sniffed. "Ten more minutes and you would have been bald! COMPLETELY BALD!"

That's the chastisement I received, years ago, when a disastrous home perm sent me running to the hair salon screaming, "EMERGENCY!"

Nobody could agree on what I looked like. It was a toss up between an electrocuted sheep dog and a mop that got caught in a radiator. Either way, my chemical-doused locks were a mere ten minutes away from disintegrating right off my head.

Recalling the experience always makes me think about time-how more of it or less of it can change the outcome of so much.

"If only we'd left five minutes earlier-we would not have missed our plane!"

"If only he'd had another 30 seconds-he would have scored a game-winning touchdown!"

When my husband and I adopted our youngest son, Daniel, from the Ukraine, timing was everything. One day earlier, and we might not have met the little hazel-eyed boy with an impish grin. He became available for adoption the very day we were sitting in Kiev's Adoption Center-actually, the very HOUR we were sitting across from the Director, looking at pictures of available children.

I think most people agree that a minute, a day, a week, a month, a year can affect the course of their lives. Why is it, then, that so many don't apply that same mentality to the course of their eternity?

Don't we all know the over-zealous parent who will zoom past a funeral procession and sideswipe a cement truck to get their child to a ballgame on time? Who doesn't know a few souls whose ears perk up at the mention of a One Day Sale? Look out! They'll plow you down like a stampede of incensed cattle in their pursuit of "Last Chance" sale prices.

Yet, when it comes to eternal salvation, they seem to be taking a leisurely stroll in the park. For that, there's always tomorrow. For that, there seems to be no concern about a "Last Chance", even though it's the most important decision they'll ever make.

It's the musical, "Annie", not the Bible that sings, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!"

Even so, people hum that tune, meandering towards the cross where they plan to die like the thief. They want an eleventh hour conversion, quite contented with the idea of making it into Heaven through the cat door.

As long as there's breath in the body, I think salvation is possible-if acceptance, repentance and belief are truly sincere. But...those last minute folks will skid into Heaven only if they get that eleventh hour they've been counting on all these years. When someone says, "I'm going to die like the thief on the cross," they need to remember this: there were TWO thieves crucified next to Jesus. Jesus only told ONE that Paradise awaited!

I frequent a Christian chat room where one member's tag line is: Those planning to get saved in the eleventh hour might die at ten-thirty."

Wow-that's a hair raising, oh-so-true thought!

Actually, we all have an eleventh hour. We just don't know when it will be. For some, it might be the hour before they get in their car, round a bend and come face-to-face with a wrong-way driver. For others, it might be the hour before an aneurysm erupts, immediately followed by the curtains of eternity being yanked wide open.

When it comes to choosing our eternal destination...timing IS everything! We've all heard the saying, "There's no time like the present." Never have those words been more true than when spoken of salvation!

This includes the salvation of those around us, so why put off witnessing to those we know are in need of Christ? Why hesitate to plant a seed or two? Sometimes fear holds us back-fear of how the person might respond or react to us sharing the good news of Jesus. Maybe we can fight that fear by glancing at our watch, and wondering what hour it is in that person's life.

In his second letter to the church in Corinth from Macedonia, Paul teaches, "As God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For He says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6: 1-2, NIV).

I'll always remember the words of that hairdresser who saved my head from needing a wig. "Ten more minutes!"

Ten more minutes! I could have been completely bald. Ten more minutes! I could be completely dead.

Just as God has every hair on our heads numbered, so it is with our days...and the days of those who need a new "do", one that can only be cut and styled by Jesus.

Let's aim to be soul winners by leading others to Jesus, whose grace will save a balding soul!

(c) Donna G. Morton 2005

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE