 |
| Photo by GFreihalter 2010 |
During the first week of Daylight Savings Time, it has been
pleasant to enjoy the later sunset, and with it, the illusion that we have more
productive hours in the day. (On the flip side, though, we wake up earlier than
we should, according to the clock, and because it is still dark out, we often
end up lingering in bed longer than we should in the morning).
The bottom line is that any notion of our having more time is, sadly, just an
illusion, for God created and controls time just as He created and controls
everything else. Only He knows the number of our days, and when they will
suddenly run out without warning. 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).
To measure time, God created day and night (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). His creation and alignment of the
sun, moon and planets gave rise to time divisions of months, seasons and years
(Genesis 1:14). Those seasons
reflect different times and purposes within our earthly life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
God designed our bodies (Psalm 139:14) to have internal rhythms harmonizing with
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.
In addition to our biological clock governing aging, our
cellular clocks are preprogrammed to undergo a set number of divisions before the
cell stops renewing itself and dies altogether. The clock keeps ticking, and grains
of sand relentlessly pass through the hourglass, but nothing is impossible with
God (Matthew 19:26).
He can even stop the sun and moon to accomplish His plan (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 (2 Kings 20:12-18;
21:1-6).
What if you knew that any given hour would be your last?
How would you spend it? My prayer is that those who keep putting off trusting
Christ would realize that now is the accepted time of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). May they even
now be saved by His grace through their faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).
And as believers, may we get our hearts right with God by
dying to our sin nature (1 Corinthians
15:31), yielding to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), asking others for forgiveness and forgiving
them (Matthew 18:21-35),
expressing love to family and friends (1
Peter 1:22), and telling everyone who would listen that Jesus saves!
But we are not promised tomorrow (James 4:13), or even another hour, so why not do all that
now? We can get so busy with work, school, hobbies and even church that we
forget to redeem the time and make every moment count (Luke 10:40-41). This earth is not our home, for we are just
strangers passing through this weary land (Hebrews
11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). May we spend our “time of sojourning” here
considering how God will evaluate what we have done with our time (1 Peter 1:17).
Before we rush off to put out the fires and jump the
hurdles we will encounter every day, we should make time to hear God through
His Word (Psalm 119:97,105,133),and
to pray that He would open the right doors, show us the right paths (Proverbs 3:5-6), and guide us
through the day’s journey (Psalm 5:3;
143:8; Mark 1:35). Time spent in prayer allows us to use our
time more productively and wisely. A wise preacher once said that he was too
busy not to pray!
The peace and wisdom found in prayer will order our
thoughts and steps (Psalms 37:23; Isaiah
26:3), calm our fears (1 John
4:18), 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 (2 Timothy 4:2). A young man in
our church began silently reading his Bible every day during his lunch break,
which led to questions from classmates and became an informal Bible study!
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
doing what pleases God. May we use it wisely to glorify Him!
© 2013 Laurie Collett
Edited, expanded and reposted from the archives
