in times past

"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish" Titus 3:3

When Paul uses the word "sometimes," he uses the word in its oldest meaning. "Afortimes" also grasps the thought, but that word's not the most helpful. "In times past" is the correct phrase for today. Now let's reread it.

"But we ourselves also were in times past foolish." So, it's an adverb that describes a time, a series of events, now past.

A puzzle whose pieces have been filled,

a period at the end of a sentence,

a book with the back cover closed.

For some, that change was sudden. Like a flash of lightning across their dark sky. For these, there was a suddenness about sin, the misery of unbelief, the danger of the soul, and the nearness of the Judge. But at the same, or soon after, came the beauty of Christ, His willingness to save, and the forgiveness of sins. Almost in one moment, they experience judgment just and a pardon free. Pursued by a thousand enemies, he is carried to a cleft in a Mighty Rock in a single moment.

For others, the change came very gradually.

It was like the sun rising,

and clouds vanishing,

until all shadows disappeared.

Through childhood, youth, and ripening years of His love and forgiving mercy, God spoke to some. Sometimes warning, sometimes calling, sometimes alluring, inviting, and promising. The Spirit used many divine strategies, unnoticed by the naked eye. Your mother's words, your father's example, your family’s altar, your Sunday School’s instruction, your minister's preaching, your elder’s wisdom. His patience prevailed, the heart’s fortress opened willingly, and the King of Glory entered softly. Early.

Bunyan once said in Grace Abounding, "Have you never a hill Mizar to remember? Have you forgot, the milk-house, the stable, the barn, where God did visit your soul?" These are the heart's hallowed spots. And if they are yours, the way in which they arrived matters little. For some, it was a revolution. For others, a revelation. Yet both can say, "In times past I was foolish," but the patience, kindness and love of my Savior toward me, overcame me.

Behind me lie my darkest days. Lands dry and wasted, where no water is. And before, the dew of Hermon falling upon the hills of Zion, the river bright as crystal, and the tree of life that bears its fruit in its season.