Precious Time

 

Four high school boys afflicted with spring fever skipped their morning classes. After lunch they reported to the teacher that their tardiness was due to a flat tire. Much to their relief she smiled and said, “Well, you missed a test today so take seats apart from one another and take out a piece of paper.” Still smiling, she waited for them to sit down. Then she said, “First question: Which tire was flat?”

It was statesman Benjamin Franklin who said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” What is time? Einstein said it is what the clock read. There is solar time, atomic time, daytime, nighttime, local time, good times, and old times. The Bible says that Felix waited for a “more convenient time” (Acts 24:25). Paul wrote that “now is the accepted time” (2 Corinthians 6:2), and that “time is short” (1 Corinthians 7:29). James wrote “life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Every birthday is a milestone of the relentless march of time and a reminder that we are quickly passing through the sands of this world.

[Psalm 103:15-18] “As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.”

We have learned that we can never go back, only forward in time. Time comes from God, though God Himself lives outside the boundaries of time. “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Time began when God created the universe – “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5). God created the stars in their courses that determines our hours, days, months, and years (Genesis 1:14-18). As the One who has control over time, God gives it out to us a moment at a time. Someday, we shall stand before God and turn in, as it were, a timecard accounting for how we have used our God-given gifts to His glory (1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 16:2). Are we good stewards of the “time” we have been given by God? We should say with Moses, “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

We are to look to Jesus for our example (1 Peter 2:2). Jesus was never too busy, and He did not waste time. He always took time to pray and meditate (Luke 9:18), to go to worship services (Luke 4:16), to give attention to the sick (Galatians 6:9), to rest ((Luke 8:22-25), to give attention to the children (Matthew 19:13-14), and even found time to attend social events, such as the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-10). Jesus is certainly the example we should imitate. Jesus was master over His time, and we should ever strive to be the same. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5: 15-16). We should learn to prioritize the things in our life, so that, our ultimate goal is fulfilled – to bring glory and honor to God through our service and daily offering (Romans 12:1-2). “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Life is like a clock: The hands of time go only forward, never backward. Life is unlike a film: It can never be rerun for a second showing. Life is unlike an automobile: It has no reverse gear. Life is unlike a pencil: You cannot erase your mistakes. (Proverbs 19:23).