Five More Minutes

July 11, 2018 | By Chuck

It seems we always want five more minutes. As a kid playing outside, all I wanted was five more minutes to play when mom and dad called me inside for the night. When that alarm sounds bright and early in the morning isn't five more minutes of sleep that you desire the most? When our vacation comes to an end, five more minutes would be nice. When the life of our loved seems to be slipping away, we"d love nothing more than five more minutes with them. There are times when five more minutes are available, but there are also times when we don't have another five minutes. I'm sure the rich man would have loved five more minutes in this life in hopes of changing his eternal destination. "The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, "Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish"(Lk.16:22-25). The reality for the rich man is his time was up and he didn't spend his time on this earth preparing for eternity. He didn't have five more minutes. We have no idea when we will breathe our last or when Jesus will return. But, one thing we can count on in either scenario is that we will not have five more minutes. Let's live our lives in such a way that when our end comes we will not feel the need for five more minutes to right wrongs or repent before the Lord. "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes"(Jas.4:14).