live every second

As I recently checked out a friend’s blog, I scrolled down and something caught my eye. There was a number in a box that kept growing larger and larger as I watched, a few numbers per second. I quickly read that this number was the amount of children that had been aborted since I had opened the webpage. By this time, the number had grown to 40, and before I was done thinking about the enormity of it, the number had already passed 100, with an increase of two or three each second.

It was staggering to think of the amount of babies aborted in such a short amount of time, but what was worse was staring at the growing number and having absolutely no control over how fast it went. I couldn’t pause it or keep it from going over a certain amount. For a minute all I could do was sit there and helplessly watch. It made me desperate to do something about it, to leave an impact, to maybe keep just one of those hundreds alive.

You’ve all probably experienced something like that. Some of you were probably at the Roe vs. Wade Rally where fifty seemingly endless bells were tolled to signify the fifty million aborted children since 1973. You probably remember something that staggered your mind and left you speechless as you realized what was happening while all you could do was sit, doing nothing. Even to think of what has passed in the time it’s taken you to read this far blows my mind.

I remember a time several years ago when our family went to a missionary museum. I don’t remember a lot about the actual museum, but there was one part that I know I’ll never forget. As we came to the last bend in the path before exiting the building, there was a large semi-dome light bulb mounted on the wall with a plaque underneath it. Each flash of the light resembled a child who had died in a foreign country of a preventable disease. The rest of the family moved on after a minute, but I stood frozen as I watched in horror. I couldn’t make a sound. All I could do was picture a face with each flash of light, a person just like me who was gone. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as the light kept flashing, never pausing, relentless. I know that I was forever changed at that moment, the realization dawning on me for the first time that every single second of every single day matters.

There’s a hopeless feeling that comes from an experience like that; a feeling that nothing you can do will make a difference. But I want to challenge that today. I want to remind you, and me, that we can change what’s happening around us. I want to encourage you to never, ever forget that there are few things as valuable as your time, and what you do with your time is how you change the world. We need to stop wasting the precious hours we are given, because for every second that we sit back, there are so many others paying the price. Simply by volunteering at a pregnancy care center, giving money to defeat world hunger, or praying for victims of AIDS, we can make an impact of which we will never know the full extent.

And as important as it is to help meet these physical needs, we have to remember that even more important than that is each person’s soul. There is no better way to use our time than to share about the love of Jesus to those in darkness. It doesn’t have to be a missions trip or an organized outreach. All it needs to be is a willingness to step out in faith even when it doesn’t seem reasonable. Every minute over 100 people die, most of whom do not know that Jesus loves them and will forgive their sins. By the time you’ve read this far, nearly 300 people have passed on forever, gone from this world. Will we waste our time on useless, meaningless things while every second could mean eternal life or death for another person? I believe that one of Satan’s greatest tools is being able to cause us to waste our time. Because if we as Christians determined that every possible second of our lives would be used for the glory of God, the whole world would feel God’s power.

I’m done sharing my view on the matter, because even every second you spend here is a second you’ll never get back. I challenge you to use the rest of this day, and the rest of your life for God. It’s your choice to make. So as you leave now, what will you do?