Have you noticed how everyone is in a hurry these days?  Why, so we can hurry up and live life and die?  Everyone complains they don’t have time anymore to do the things they really want to do.  Yet, every hour still has sixty minutes, just like before.  Has time really speeded up, or just our perception of its passing? 
    As a young man I worked very long hours, yet I still found time to go fishing or ride my motorcycle.  Every day had twenty four hours, and I was out to live every one of them to the fullest.  But as I got older, the things I needed to do took precedence over what I wanted to do, until life was no longer any fun.  “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was certainly becoming the story of my life.  They say when you become a man, you must put childish things away, and to me, “fun” was the definition of childish, so my life became all about work.  Yes, it was good to be productive, and for sure no one could ever call me lazy.  But yet, there was no real satisfaction in my life anymore.  Sometimes I still wanted to get away and have some fun, but there were people who depended on me, so that was out of the question.  The years came and went with business as usual, and one day I looked back and asked myself, where did the time go? 
    Like everyone else, my time was slipping quickly away and I hardly noticed the speed with which it was passing, because I was too busy being busy.  Time has a way of deceiving us.  We think we have forever, yet sooner or later we realize we really don’t have forever to get done what we want to, which brings me to the important part.  Picture your life being like a house.  Inside every one of us is what I will call “the God space”.  When we are born, there is a place put in us that only God can fill.  And as we live our lives, we fill our “house” with all kinds of things, a mate, children, a job, and before you know it, there isn’t much room for anything else. 
    Yet, for all the fullness, there is still an empty place, a gnawing inside that something is missing.  That “something missing” is God, wanting not only a place in our life, but first place, in order to make our life complete.  And time after time we try to fill that empty place that God reserved unto Himself with “other” things. That is sort of like trying to put a square peg into a round hole.  You can force it in, but it doesn’t fit.  We can try to fill that space with another person, or possessions, or money or fame, but in the quiet of the night, that space calls out to us, and the soul knows something is missing.
    The tragic part is this; deep inside we can know it is God gently calling us into a relationship with Him, yet we offer every excuse in the world to ignore Him.  Does that sound familiar?  Here’s an example found in Luke 14:16-24:
Luk 14:16  Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
Luk 14:17  And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Luk 14:18  And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
Luk 14:19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
Luk 14:20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
Luk 14:21  So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
Luk 14:22  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
Luk 14:23  And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luk 14:24  For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
    I want you to think of the excuses you have made to the Lord through the years, and compare it to these listed above.  A gracious person had invited many to a great supper, for which he had spent much time and money to prepare.  Nothing was required of the guests, but to come and enjoy it.  Remember, supper time then was at night after the day’s work was over.  The first man bought some land and wanted to take his lamp and go find it in the dark, so he asked to be excused.  Seems to me he should have looked at it in the daylight before he bought it.  Pretty flimsy excuse, wouldn’t you say?  The second one refused the invitation because he wanted to go plow with ten untested oxen, and even if he could find them in the night, how would he see to plow a straight line with them?  Another one bites the dust.  The third one just came out and said he couldn’t come because he had a wife.  So, what’s your excuse?
   What is your answer to the Lord’s invitation?  Are you saying “I’d like to, but I just don’t have time right now.” ?  Just exactly when do you suppose you’ll have time?  As we well know, time waits for no man.  Sooner or later, our time on this earth will be over.  And as long as we live, there will be places to go and people to see and things to do.  You can be assured the devil will do all he can to make sure you are always busy.  If you think I’m wrong, just consider your own schedule. 
   There is no better argument for having a relationship with God than this: God himself prepared a great banquet for us at His own expense.  It consists firstly of a relationship with Him, which gives us the privilege of calling Him LORD, which in turn puts us directly under His lordship.  That means more than you being His servant.  That means we are under His love, protection, favor and benefit.  It not only gives us hope for the here and now, but the future as well.  Regardless of what man’s government and economy does, those who accept God’s invitation are made citizens of His Kingdom.  Though this world should fail us, He will not.  He offers us all things pertaining to this life, plus eternal life with Him in a place where no thief approaches, nor is there any more pain, sickness, poverty or death.
   That alone tells me I need to make a relationship with God my first priority.  One day each of us will stand before God to give account for our life.  For those in relationship with God, we are passed from death unto life.  For those who really meant to but didn’t, they will ask, Where did the time go?  Lord, I really meant to know you, I really did!  Sadly, they will hear Him say, Depart from me, I never knew you.  They had the chance, just like you do right now, but for one reason or another, never got around to it.  Apparently, they never thought it was important enough, or they would have.  We have no promise of another heartbeat, another day or another year.  All we have is right now, which is a gift of God.  That’s why it’s called “the present”.  What will you do with your present?  Will you waste it on things that seem important, but really aren’t, or will you use it to seek God?  Maybe you have never asked the Lord Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior.  Maybe you have, but somehow the cares of this life have led you away from Him, and you no longer have that relationship you once had.  If you have backslidden, right now is the time to  “slide back!”   We always think there will be time “later”.  Don’t fall for that lie, or one day you too will be saying Where did the time go?  Make the right choice, right now!  You’ll be glad you did.  Why not pray this prayer?
   Father God in heaven, I want to know for sure that when my life on earth is over, that I’ll be with you for all eternity. I know the Lord Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins. I’m sorry for my sins, and forsake them now.  I choose to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and to be led by Him each day as You give me strength to do so.  Amen.