Make hay while the sun shines – words needing no explanation to those who grew up on a farm! Even with modern techniques and equipment, it’s too late to "make hay" if you don’t get to it before the rain sets in. To "make hay while the sun shines" is to make the most of an opportunity, to take advantage of favorable conditions. Bale hay too soon (before it dries) and it will rot even in a barn. But wait too long to bale and you run the risk of rain ruining it in the field. When it comes to baling hay, there is a definite "window of opportunity." Wait too long and it closes.
The concept of "making hay while the sun shines" has an urgent spiritual application for all of us, whether you grew up on a farm or not. Our time on Planet Earth is temporary, bookended by two events common to all – birth and death. Though life itself doesn’t really begin at birth (think about it), our life on Earth begins the moment we are "born," the time recorded on the birth certificate. From that moment a timer begins to tick and winds down to the moment we call "death" – the moment physical life on Earth ends. For some people the timer ticks for a hundred years or more after birth. Sadly, for some it never begins ("stillborn"). The Biblical declaration about an "average" lifespan is found in the words of Psalm 90:10 – "The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow." Seventy years seems a long enough time for the clock of life to tick – plenty of time and sunshine to "make hay," especially to someone who is two or ten or twenty or maybe even thirty. But Moses was quick to add, "For it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Time never really "speeds up" – but at some point it definitely feels like it does (can I get a witness?!). Moses was right. That’s why learning and obeying God’s will is important no matter what stage of life you are in, whether young, middle-aged, or well into the sunset stage of life. Even Jesus Christ was gripped by a sense of the temporary and fleeting span of time He had to do God’s work on earth. On one occasion He declared, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). Concerning God’s will and work, Jesus made hay while the sun shined. Though His earthly life was only about 33 years, the night before He died He said to His Father in John 17:4, "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do." Compare that statement and the priority it highlights with these sad words describing God’s people some 600 to 650 years before Christ came – "The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved" (Jeremiah 8:20). Time to get right with God was rapidly running out in Jeremiah’s time. How about you? Do you need to repent and be baptized into Christ for forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38)? Do you need to pray more; read the Bible more; love and forgive more; come back to the church or get more involved in it; reach out to someone with the gospel; or otherwise adjust priorities in your life? Do it now! "Why do you wait dear brother/sister?" For your soul’s sake, make hay while the sun shines!
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" - 2 Corinthians 6:2
By: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
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