4/09/21 Chris (see HERE)
Out in a parking lot, just after he parked his tow truck, I was asked an interesting question by Chris, who works as a “repo man”. These are the guys who take possession of vehicles after their owners have failed to keep up payments. Their owners are given a limited time in which to make payments and then, that’s it! Times up! Party's over!
It could happen at any time.
A delinquent borrower might have a full cart of groceries only to find
that their car was suddenly towed away while they were shopping. Or the vehicle might mysteriously disappear
from the parking lot while they were working.
And this happens more often than you might realize. Did you know over 2 million vehicles are
repossessed by lenders every year?
That’s over 5000 vehicles a day!
So the interesting question Chris asked me, in response to
my question about God and eternity, was this – “Why do we only have a certain
amount of time? That’s one of the
biggest questions I have, why do we have an expiration date?”
I thought that was interesting coming from a guy whose job
is to be sort of “grim reaper” with people’s vehicles. Surely he has thought through what would
happen if there was no possibility of repossession – if people were just
allowed to default on their loans indefinitely.
With no deadlines looming, don’t we all have a basic tendency toward
procrastination?
So is it fair to try to make a comparison between the
limited time we have in making car payments, and the limited time we have to
walk this earth and breathe the air?
Probably not. But I’m thinking
that maybe there is a connection if we realize that there are certain tasks
that, like the deadline to make a car payment, we are given a limited time to
complete. Maybe God knows our sinful
nature and that we also have a tendency toward procrastination when it comes to
the tasks He has given us to complete during our stay here.
So what are these tasks?
It has to be somewhat different for every person since, after all, we
are all given very different “expiration dates”. Psalm 139:16 tells us “all the days ordained
for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God ordains long lives for some, short lives
for others, and our date with eternity often arrives unexpectedly.
But there may be one common purpose God has for us all. He wants all people to be saved, and to come
to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim.
2:4) In 2 Peter 3:9 we read that
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance."
This passage refers to God’s delaying of the “last days” in
order that more people might come to faith and repentance. The “promise” referred to is repeated in the
very next verse – that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” But I believe it also refers to our own
personal final days. We may not know
when the “thief” will come, but today we can have peace with God through a
faith relationship with Jesus.
We all have a date with destiny, and none of us are
guaranteed a warning before the “repo man” comes!
Thanks, Chris, for allowing me to record our
conversation! It can be seen on my
YouTube channel.
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