"WHAT TIME IS IT?"
By Harold Stoddard

Genesis 1:1 : "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
Natural man is endowed with a curiosity that causes lots of trouble for everybody. Adam just had to taste that forbidden fruit --- and what
a disaster that brought about!
A"WET PAINT'' sign makes one feel that he must touch the paint to see if it's wet or not --- and then he has to clean his hands.
The little boy must step in the mudhole just to see how deep it is...or just because he knows he shouldn't.
The list is endless. I'm sure you have experienced it in your own life along the way. Sometimes our curiosity results in disaster...(I wonder how fast this car will go...) etc. Sometimes it is amusing, as with the "WET PAINT" sign, but always the curiosity is there.

Genesis 1:1 tells us all we need to know about the origin of the heaven and the earth, yet the clamor goes on. Sincere folks continually try to figure out how the heavens and the earth were formed. Some believe they evolved from some speck of dust or an explosion or some other imaginary happening; yet, in the end they find it must have begun --even in their unbelief -- with an intelligent Being --(God).
Others believe the Bible statement in Genesis 1:1, but even sincere folks who believe the truth, will split over WHEN it occurred, even though God has given us the exact time -- "in the beginning...". Still the argument rages and men try to put a TIME in ETERNITY so that they can fuss over days and times and seasons. The fact is, ETERNITY" has NO time nor limits, since years are not measured in Eternity. God has given us Time as a measure for now and the first mention of any TIME is in Genesis 1:4 & 5 -- "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

Time will end when Eternity takes over again. Our bodies will no longer age (wear out). I'm looking forward to that with great anticipation, for even now I'm experiencing the ravages of time and I could make a long list of the signs of how time is showing the wear and tear on my body...

It seems that the natural man in his desire to know as much as God (which actually is rebellion), and being persuaded by Satan, as was Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:4,5 --"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." , continues to remain in unbelief and to wallow in his own man-made wisdom.

The secret word for Success in the Bible is BELIEVE. Believe Genesis 1:1 and you know without any doubt that God created the heaven and the earth. The date, if you must have one, was "In the beginning..."

Noah believed God and built a boat in the desert, and so preserved the human race when the flood came;
Abraham believed God and became a blessing to the whole world, and is the father of the faithful even now.
Joseph believed God and saved the nation of Israel from starvation in the years of famine.
Moses believed God and led the children of Israel out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, and watched as God drowned the army and chariots of Egypt in that same Red Sea.
John the Baptist believed God and was permitted to make the path straight (prepare the way) for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. This is that same Jesus Christ who was the Creator in Genesis 1:1. John 1:3 tells us, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made."
The Apostles believed God and carried the Word of salvation in Jesus Christ to every place they went and spread it throughout the whole nation.
Saul of Tarsus believed God and was transformed into Paul the Apostle who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament.
Today, you, I and others have the admonition to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13).

Your life this very day may be transformed by a simple child-like faith (belief) in Jesus Christ. Your life may become, in Jesus Christ, that which is of benefit to family and friends. Even your enemies might believe the Word as they see your life transformed and see you carrying forth the Word of Life...and the end will be Eternity in the very Presence of Jesus Christ who died on the cross so that we (all who will believe) could be saved. John 5:24 says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
If you will hear His voice, the Bible, and believe on Jesus Christ you will be freed from the religious prattle that fills the air around you, which confuses the masses. You may be saved from the formulas of man as the religions of the world war and fight among themselves, doing very little good to anyone, perhaps much harm.

By faith in Jesus Christ you may be "Born Again" -- In John 3:7, Jesus says, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Having been born of the flesh, you may by simple faith in Jesus Christ,. be born of the Spirit of God and become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is no other way of salvation. NOW is the time...this is the day of salvation. There is NO TIME in Eternity.