Time's Running Out

It’s hard to believe 2011 is coming to a close. It seems like yesterday we couldn’t wait for our new WalMart to open. It felt like it was taking forever, but low and behold it even opened as scheduled. I always thought it ridiculous to hear my elders confirm over and over again, “The older you get, the faster time passes”. When I think about it I’m reminded of another wise edict introduced to my life in about the sixth grade. In one of my classes, the teacher had posted a sign next to the clock on the wall. It read, “Time will pass; Will you?” It seems the older we get the more we find to fill our time and before we know it one day runs into another, into another, into another. If we’re not careful, we wake up and can’t even think of what day it is without consulting some sort of electronic device. Every once in a while I set back and evaluate my sleep deprivation trying to determine if it’s all worth it. I often realign my daily schedule, but then it doesn’t take long before I find something more to fill the newly allocated free time. And like most people I don’t fill the time with the purposes I was seeking more time for. It’s definitely a rat race this thing we call life and living, but the only thing I’m really worried about is, am I going to pass. I think we too often fail to realize that we all carry a great responsibility to ourselves and to our existence after time runs out.
My wife and I celebrate our anniversary this month and that’s one of those dates a man ought not to forget and needs to schedule time for at least a dinner date. I’m not a romantic and do not express my feelings well, but I’m also the guy you here about all the time who confesses that, “I would be nothing today without my wife standing beside me”. It’s true. My wife quietly encourages me with a look of confidence and nonchalantly, often times, puts me on notice that it’s time to shut my mouth and act the person she knows I am. My character is weak; our character has strength.
A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the ceremony his cousin asked him, “How many women can a man marry?” “Sixteen”, the boy responded. “How do you know that?” the cousin asked. “Easy”, said the boy. “All you have to do is add it up. Like the preacher said, four better, four worse, four richer and four poorer.”
Overheard at a wedding, one said, “Boy is he in big trouble!” Another asked why he said that. He replied, “The preacher asked the bride if she took this man to be her husband and she said ‘I do’. Then the preacher asked the groom if he took this woman to be his bride, and she said, ‘He does!’”
[Ecclesiastes 3] Along with the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is worth reading over and over again. This book’s authorship is given to Solomon, although never stated, and the general theme relates to the significances of human life. In verse 17 the author states, “I thought in my heart, ‘God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.’” In Philippians 2:12, Paul commended the church at Philippi as they continue to obey God’s Word without having to be reminded to do so and to “…continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” How different this world would be if we all first looked to please our Father in heaven in all we do and think. I fear God in a healthy way, for I do not want to be punished for my selfish foolish ways when my time is finished. I am striving to pass the tests of time in this life with the help of God.