One Extra Hour!

What would you do with one extra hour? For those regions observing Daylight Savings Time, this Sunday is the time change most of us prefer. As we set the clocks back one hour, it seems like we get an extra hour to sleep or to stay up late doing what we enjoy or what we need to do. Of course, we don’t really get any extra time. The clock keeps on ticking, and our time left on earth gets shorter with every passing second, as does the time before we will see Jesus face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). Our life is “but a vapor” (James 4:14), as short-lived as the visible puff of air we exhale on a cold day.

As we compare our lives with those around us, we notice that money, talents, health, intelligence, power, beauty, and other blessings are not distributed equally among us. Every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17), and God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), distributing them according to His divine plan and His holy justice. The devil, who relentlessly paces the earth (Job 1:7) and who is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), jockeys to obtain position and favor for his henchmen, while trying to remove these advantages from believers who are productive for God.

But in terms of time, each of us has the same opportunities and limitations. Each of us has 24 hours in a day, no more and no less. When that day is gone, it’s gone forever. We can’t store, buy, borrow, steal, or create time.

But we can redeem the time! (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5). With prayer and the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can make each moment on earth have eternal significance. Once the clock stops on earth and we enter eternity, time lasts forever. So our top priority here should be to maximize our experience there, realizing that we will enjoy eternally the rewards we earn for our earthly service.

Every soul led to Christ, every believer encouraged and uplifted, every gift given with the right motive to further His kingdom, will be the gold, silver and precious stones that will endure the fire of judgment (1 Corinthians 3: 12-14) and be a crown we can lay at Jesus’ feet (Revelation 4:10-11). Imagine what it is like to hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:17) and to be rewarded with positions of responsibility in the Millennial Kingdom!

God created and controls time just as He created and controls everything else. One day to Him can be as a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8), and His power is so unlimited that He created the universe in six literal days (Exodus 20:11; 31:17). He created day and night as a measure of time (Genesis 1:5), and set aside one day of seven as a day of rest to divide time into weeks (Genesis 1:31-2:3; Exodus 20:11; 31:17). His creation and alignment of the sun, moon and planets gave rise to time divisions of months, seasons and years (Genesis 1:14).

He designed our bodies to have internal rhythms in tune with those daily, monthly, and yearly cycles. Because He even designed atoms to have their own internal frequencies, extremely accurate atomic clocks can measure time using the microwave signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels.

Time marches on, but nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26). He can even stop the sun and moon in their tracks in answer to prayer if it serves His purposes (Joshua 10: 12-14). He can add 15 years to a life that should have ended, although when He did so for King Hezekiah in answer to his prayer (2 Kings 20: 1-11), there were negative consequences that Hezekiah could not have anticipated, including defeat by Babylon (2 Kings 20:12-18) and Hezekiah’s son Manasseh growing up to be one of the most evil kings Israel ever had (2 Kings 21: 1-6).

If you knew that that extra hour on Time Change Sunday, or any hour, would be your last, how would you spend it? I think most believers would get their hearts right with God by earnestly repenting of their sins, making right any wrongs by asking others for forgiveness and by forgiving them, expressing love to family and friends, and telling everyone who would listen that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

But we are not promised tomorrow (James 4:13), or even another hour, so as we decide how to spend our time, shouldn’t we make the above our top priority? Yes, the demands of work, school, family, and everyday life are many and pressing, but we can find ways to redeem the time and make every moment count.

Before we rush off in twenty different directions tilting at windmills, we can take time to read God’s Word (Psalm 119:97,105,133),and to pray that He would open the right doors, show us the right paths, and guide us through the day’s journey (Psalm 5:3; 143:8; Mark 1:35). The peace and wisdom found in prayer will order our thoughts and steps (Psalms 37:23; Proverbs 3:5-6), calm our anxieties, and make us more focused and productive in all we do. Whatever we do, we can do it to glorify God in an attitude of service and excellence (Colossians 3:23).

While showering and dressing, we can renew our minds (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23) with Christian radio or CDs. If we’re stuck in traffic, we can use the time to listen for God’s directions and to pray for our loved ones. While we wait in a checkout line at the supermarket, we can pray that all those in the store who are not saved will come to know Christ as their Savior, and that all the believers there will grow in faith, wisdom, and fruitfulness. Or, we can strike up a friendly conversation with the person behind us in line and pray that God will open the door for us to witness.

In the waiting room at the doctor’s office, why not bring our Bible to increase our wisdom, joy and peace, instead of thumbing through old magazines? Someone might ask us about what we’re reading, and it could be a divine appointment to share the meaning of God’s Word in our life.

In a sense, every hour that we’re on earth is that “one extra hour,” because it allows us a new beginning, a time to start over in ways that are pleasing to Him. So let’s not waste our allotted time – let’s redeem it!