The premise behind the popular television series "48 Hours" is that after a crime occurs there is a very tight window of around 48 hours to get a strong lead or gather evidence when solving that crime. The show centers around detectives hurriedly piecing together the case during that 48 hour period because they know that after that space of time expires the chances of apprehending the culprit decrease by about half. Many times, this bracketed 48 hours is called the "critical time" as is witnessed by the actions of those involved in solving the crime display a sense of urgency you can almost feel as the viewer. The whole idea of knowing you have 48 hours to make something happen strikes me as a topic to address in our lives as well. What if you knew you had 48 hours to live? What level of intensity would our actions be altered, and which items on our laundry list of "too dos" might change?
48 hours. What if you could somehow be forewarned that at this particular moment your time on this big rock would expire in 48 hours? Would your priorities change in what you wanted to get done? Would you place an all-out effort on contacting those that you love so much and make sure that they know that you love them? Would you possibly lay down that grudge you've been holding against a friend that betrayed your trust and go make amends? What about the friend that you broke the trust and they haven't spoken to you in years? Would you make the effort to seek their forgiveness and tell them how sorry you are for what happened?
How about those long-term plans? I know people that actually sit and mark days off a calendar waiting on the day that they get to retire. In essence, what they have been doing for years is marking off anticipated days awaiting a big pay off when they reach that golden day on the calendar. What if the knowledge that you only had 48 hours was in your grasp? Would you so eagerly be marking off the next day? My guess is that those two days would go way too fast and the pen used to mark off days would get discarded quickly.
48 hours, 48 days, 48 months, 48 years, or even 48 minutes the point is none of us knows when our time is going to come. In Matthew 24:43 Jesus warns the disciples "But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into." How many of us would leave our house unattended this evening if we knew that someone was going to break in and steal our possessions? "Hello??" I didn't hear anyone lining up for a dinner date armed with that bit of info, but we don't know when a thief may target our house, our car, or even our family. We can't and shouldn't live in fear that we could get robbed, just as we shouldn't be living in fear that we might die at any moment, yet what Jesus was warning His disciples is you have to be prepared, take the initiative, and most importantly don't sit around reclusively waiting for something bad to happen.
I struggled with writing today's message. The purpose of Flat Tire Ministries is to be an uplifting, inspiration as you start your week. The thought of dying isn't really a topic of great inspiration, yet I'm not exactly sure that the takeaway from our time today should be focused on the concept of having only 48 hours to live. I believe today's message is directed towards that relationship that needs to be mended. We don't know what tomorrow holds, we just know who holds tomorrow! If you read this message today and a face popped into your head, that is the someone you should be going to and mending that broken relationship. Yes, you can apply this message to getting your priorities in order, yes, it is extremely suitable for someone that doesn't feel like they are walking in step with our Creator, and yes, it is possible that this message is speaking to you about how you live each day like there is an unlimited number of days, weeks, and years at your disposal. The point is we all need to be moved to action today in some aspect of our lives.
Whatever your application is the main thing is you apply it to actionable steps and you don't put it off till tomorrow. "When I see them I'll talk to them", nope that's not what I 'm saying. I'm challenging you to get moving today. Maybe you physically can't get to that person today, ATT duh? Pick up that phone and call them. Of course, going in person would be best, but don't put things off that need to be taken care of today. 48 hours, 480 hours, 48 years, life is going to be exactly what it is supposed to be. We don't control that, what we can control is what we do right now. The challenge is posted, what are you going to do with it?
"This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
Coach Carter
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