BEST TIME

Revelation 1:3 (KJV)
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
“The time is at hand.” The most important moment in our lives is the moment we hold in our hands. We cannot pull up the past and re-write it or change what has been done. We cannot reach into the future as though the present does not exist and live there. The only moment we can take hold of is the “time at hand,” the time we hold in our hands at this very moment. “This is the day the LORD hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” The time at hand is the greatest and only opportunity we have – we were born for such a time as this – this is our opportunity.
I was selected by my battalion commander and brigade chaplain to serve as surrogate chaplain during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The ground war was to begin and the 101st airborne core (Administrative staff of all airborne units in the U.S. Army) were flying to our position that morning to have a short service and time for prayer before commencing. Our battalion was 360 or more troops and the core staff had approximately the same number, this made it over 600 troops attending that day.
My battalion commander (Lieutenant Colonel Donley) gave me order to present a sermon and prayer and that the 101st airborne core staff would be attending and I’d better have something significant to say. I had only one hour to prepare; pressure is not even the word for it, so, I spent that hour in prayer (what am I going to say to this staff of generals worthy of saying) and in the last moments of prayer this scripture came to me.
Standing in the desert sand looking at these generals looking at me I announced the title of my sermon “The Time is at Hand.” That moment has come and gone; this moment and every moment we hold in our hand become as significant as any other. In the context of this scripture “Jesus is present.” In fact, it is not that Jesus happens in time; He happens to time. Therefore, regardless of the time we hold in our hands, holding on to Jesus is mostly important; if He is not there, I do not want to be there. Jesus makes anytime the best time we could ever have.