God’s Gift of Time

I can’t wait!

As a child at Bible Camp, I could hardly wait for the next day’s swimming time to try out my new diving attempts.  That’s all I could think about, and it seemed the time would never arrive.

At Christmas time, I could hardly wait till Christmas morning to open presents.

As a teenager – how wonderful it will be when I graduate from high school.  When would I ever graduate and be out of high school?

As a college student – I could hardly wait for graduation and marriage.  How slowly time passed!

As a ministerial student, I could hardly wait for the day I would be pastoring my church.

How our perspective changes as the years pass.  When you’re young, you don’t have many years to compare, so everything seems to take a long time.  When older, you have had many years to consider and compare.  That’s when time flies.  But you have learned (hopefully) to wait on the Lord.

As a young person, people were ancient when they reached age 40.  My grandmother lived to age 69, and I thought she was exceedingly old.   Now that I am in my eighties, the ages of 40 or 69 seem young.

Before the Genesis flood, people lived hundreds of years.  Methuselah lived to be 969 years.  After the flood, life expectancies plunged.  In the Millenium, prophesied in the Old Testament prophetical books and Revelation 20, to die at 100 will be considered a child, and the wicked person dying at 100 would be accursed.  (Isaiah 65:20).

I don’t know how old Moses was (he lived to be 120 – Deut. 34:7) at the time he wrote Psalm 90,  but he had these words to say about age: “The days of our years are threescore and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”  – – “So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:10, 12).

James, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, wrote this perspective on the use of time.  “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” (James 4:14-15)

Time is precious and is not to be wasted.  “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

When you reach the end of your time, will you regret the way you spent your time?  In the parable of the ten pounds (Luke 19:11-27), Jesus is illustrating with pounds – money.  But those pounds can also represent our life.   We don’t know how long we have, but God does.  He gives each of us our lifetime with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual abilities.   We are now trustees (stewards) of our bodies, abilities, and time.  He has given our life to us so that we may bring honor and glory to Him.  We are responsible for our own lives and how we use it.

How much time have you invested to get to know your spouse?  Your Child?  Your parents?  Your friends?  Your fellow church members?  Your neighbors?  Your co-workers?

How much time have you invested to reach your relatives, co-workers, neighbors, and friends for Christ?

How much time have you invested in helping someone?

And more important than any of the above questions: How much time have you spent with the Lord daily in Bible study and prayer?

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  (Proverbs 3:5-6).  “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he DELIGHTETH in his way.  (Psalm 37:23 ).

There are no length-of-life guarantees for any of us.  Today could be your last day.   What are you doing to make your time count for God?

Here are the lyrics to an old chorus by Alfred B. Smith that sums up the thought of this article.

With eternity’s values in view, Lord,
With eternity’s values in view,
May I do each day’s work for Jesus,
With eternity’s values in view.