MOMENT IN THE WORD: Out of time

Published 2:30 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2026

By Edwin Woolsey/Columnist

Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

I watched the heartbreaking video of the Learjet 60’s horrific crash in Florida and listened to the National Transportation Safety Board’s released audio of the last minutes of communication. My blood ran cold 35 seconds after the pilot’s initial mayday call when he resignedly said, “We’re out of time,” and instantly the radio went dead.

“Out of time… out of time.” What a horrible finality.

Time is the most valuable commodity we have on this earth; but when it’s gone, it’s gone, never to be reclaimed. To be out of time, represents the most grievous calamity. We can be out of many things, but to be “out of time” is apocalyptic.

This was the message that God told Jeremiah to share with Judah: “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” Time had run out for God’s people with no recourse or opportunity to be restored.

Reminiscent of the hurtling Learjet exploding on impact in Florida without any time left for intervention, the Apostle Peter described a day that is rapidly coming. As we hear the ominous drums frantically beating the forlorn cadence of global nuclear war, the apostle’s warning rings true: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (2 Peter 3:10-12).

I want to caution against a popular misconception spread in some modern churches: the belief that Jesus is secretly coming to snatch Christians away for seven years while nonbelievers stay behind for a second chance to accept Christ as their Savior. This concept, popularized by a man named John Nelson Darby in the 1840s, is not mentioned in a single Bible verse.

When Jesus appears in the blink of an eye on the Last Day to raise the dead (John 6:39-40, 44, 54) and judge the nations at the last trumpet (Rev. 11:15-19), there will not be seven years left to repent because you will be completely out of time.

Consequently, what kind of people ought we to be right now, while accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Before opportunity ends, St. Peter said we ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day of God that is rapidly coming.

Do not wait until the very end to helplessly cry, “I’m out of time!”