When I was in seminary, I worked at night loading airplanes for UPS (back then it was actually called United Parcel Service). It was a three-hour shift, but for the first two hours or so, we really didn't do very much. The packages were sorted inside and placed into large aluminum and clear plastic containers about eight feet by twelve feet and about seven feet high, rounded so they fit perfectly into the airplane. Then those containers were loaded onto trailers and brought out to the planes where we used an elevator system called a "K-loader" to put the containers into the airplane. Topside, there was a system of rollers, ball bearings, and locks that enabled us to push the containers back inside the plane and lock them into place.
Each night, we loaded three DC-8's which held eighteen positions of cargo. As I said, in the first two hours, we would put in maybe three or four of those containers, but as the night wore on, and the inside started wrapping up their sort, the cans started coming out in a hurry! Their sort finished about 10:00, and the first plane had to be buttoned up and ready to move about 10:10, the second a few minutes later, and the third a few minutes after that. In other words, after standing around all evening (in the cold or the heat), we had to really move for that last hour!
One of the supervisors always liked to talk about a "sense of urgency." By that, she did not mean that we were to run around (heaven help us if she caught anybody running on the ramp!), but that we were to be focused on the job, thinking ahead to avoid problems, and operating safely and efficiently.
I think that a proper understanding of the sinfulness of sin gives us a sense of urgency in our Christian lives. These verses stood out to me as I was studying for a message in Romans this week:
"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Rom 13:11-14).
Life is short. There just isn't time for sinfulness, selfishness, and immorality. Our ultimate salvation (glorification) is one day closer than it was yesterday. Jesus Christ will return at any moment for his Church. We ought to be walking "carefully, not as unwise but as wise" (Eph 5:15). The stakes are too high to dabble with sin. The danger is so great that the wisest course of action is sometimes to steer clear of something that would give our sinful nature any advantage. We need to live with a sense of urgency.
Comments
Your thoughts here are timely.
In my opinion, the "weak brother" of chapter 14 is someone who voluntarily restricts himself to avoid making allowance for his sinful nature (13:14). I think that is the link between the two chapters— a point that is very important to remember when studying Romans 14.
I hope to write a few posts next week on this very topic.