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Verse:For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. —2 Corinthians 6:2, KJV
I’ve been driving myself to and from work for the past three years.
The journey takes more than an hour from the Borough of Point Fortin to the City of San Fernando and vice versa. This means that for almost three years, I’ve listened to the afternoon gospel radio programming of 107.1 FM “The Word.” I played this gospel station to keep me company on the journey.
On a Wednesday afternoon, Jamie Thomas (a.k.a. JT) conducted a call-in segment for first-time callers. He would say in Trini dialect, “Alyuh know what time it is! This time is for YOU, the first-time callers!” Then came his standard line, “Yuh nehvah [never] call before... You’re not the call-in type... Yuh call and yuh nehvah get through before? This is your opportunity!” I would have a good laugh when people would call and say, “This is my second time.” I shook my head as he politely told these callers repeatedly that this was not their segment. There would be times when I got a strong urge to call, but I would jokingly tell myself, This is not my time to lose my first-time-caller status.
Sometimes there would be pauses, and in my mind, I knew that I would get through if I called. It was as if he was speaking to me and waiting for me to call. I can’t believe how many times I silenced the urge.
When it was reported on the news that JT had suddenly died of a heart attack, I thought, I will never get the opportunity to be a first-time caller on his radio program ever again. A lost opportunity. It is the same way when we hear the voice of God pleading with us and don’t respond. We listen to His call to overcome our sins and turn over our lives to Jesus. We can even repeat God’s verses, but we don’t budge, often for no plausible reason. We make no attempt to heed His call, even laughing along the way at others who heed the call repeatedly. May I urge us to act now? God has cleared the airways for you! It is the right time to heed His appeal.
We know not the unexpected day when our opportunity will be lost forever.
Delina Ashley Roberts-James