A "Timely" Post

Time

 

Time. How can such a little word so entirely dictate our lives? From the very moment we are born, time governs us. “Time of birth, 12:23pm,” they said when my son was born a short three months ago. Since then, it has been time to feed him, time to change him, and very little time for anything else. You see, time already runs his little life. As we move on through life, it gets worse. Children who once made their parents heart glad by sleeping late in the mornings, are now made to get up in time for school. Those children learn at school, how to tell time and it just gets crazier from there. At work, we punch a time clock, and while we are there, we constantly glance at our watches, eagerly awaiting the time to go home. Before we go to bed at night, we consider what time we need to get up in the morning and set our alarm clocks accordingly. We graduate at a certain time and get married at a certain time, and when we have our babies, we say, “Honey, it’s time!” Throughout our life, we go through good times and bad times, happy times and sad times, sometimes we just plain have a rough time of it. When our children are unruly, we give them time out. While a few of us enjoy spare time, more of us feel rushed for time, and some of us even run out of time.  But still, time marches on. James says that our lives are just a vapour, appearing for just a little while and then vanishing away. If there is one thing certain in life, it is death. Just as surely as our time of birth was recorded when we entered, our time of death will be recorded when we depart.

Ecclesiastes says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Mathew Henry writing of this verse says, “To expect unchanging happiness in a changing world, must end in disappointment. To bring ourselves to our state in life, is our duty and wisdom in this world. God's whole plan for the government of the world will be found altogether wise, just, and good. Then let us seize the favorable opportunity for every good purpose and work. The time to die is fast approaching. Thus labour and sorrow fill the world. This is given us, that we may always have something to do; none were sent into the world to be idle.”
No problem there, huh? Seems like it is always time to do something! But…..are we doing the right things with our time? From Ephesians, we learn that it is our duty to redeem the time, or to buy it back from sin and waste, setting it free to the service of God—and doing this all the more earnestly because we know the times in which we live are evil.
In regards to redeeming our time, Barnes said this: “Man has just enough time given him to accomplish all the purposes which God designs, and God has not given him more than enough. They redeem their time, who employ it:

1) in gaining useful knowledge;

(2) in doing good to others;

(3) in employing it for the purpose of an honest livelihood for themselves and families;

(4) in prayer and self-examination to make the heart better;

(5) in seeking salvation, and in endeavoring to do the will of God.

They are to redeem time from all that would waste and destroy it - like recovering marshes and fens to make them rich meadows and vineyards. There is time enough wasted by each sinner to secure the salvation of the soul; time enough wasted to do all that is needful to be done to spread religion around the world, and to save the race. We should still endeavor to redeem our time for the same reasons which are suggested by the apostle - because the days are evil. There are evil influences abroad; allurements and vices that would waste time, and from which we should endeavor to rescue it. There are evil influences tending to waste time:

(1) in the allurements to pleasure and amusement in every place, and especially in cities;

(I always knew the country life was the good life. =)

(2) in the temptations to novel-reading, consuming the precious hours of probation to no valuable purpose;

(So much more could be said here in addition to the novel reading. How about the time on facebook, pinterest, blogs, telephone, ect.)

(3) in the temptations of ambition, most of the time spent for which is wholly thrown away, for few gain the prize, and when gained, it is all a bauble, not worth the effort;

Ambition is good enough though, when the cause is just and led of God.

(4) in dissipation - for who can estimate the amount of valuable time that is worse than thrown away in the places of revelry and dissipation;

(5) in wild and visionary plans - temptations to which abound in all lands, and pre-eminently in our own;

(6) and in luxurious indulgence - in dressing, and eating, and drinking.”

This life, afterall, is not at all about this life, but all about the afterlife. What kind of treasures are we laying up? Time is short and soon will lead us down to the end of our lives. Whether we remain to have our time of death recorded, or live to see His second coming, as John the Revelator said, time will be no more. Can you imagine a time without time? No more time to work or pray.  No more waiting. No more squeezing the time. All the mysteries of His coming will be fulfilled. All the prophecy we never quite understood. There will be no more unknown. No more wondering, for we shall know Him even as He knows us. Most of us have grown up hearing that we are in the end times, and while it can only get "truer" with time, one thing is certain--whether these are the end days or time goes on a while, our times are in His hands. Soon there will be but one more appointment time to keep—the time of judgment. We need not worry or stress for this appointment, but be continually ready. God is providing the transportation to this one. I want to be ready, when it’s time, don’t you?

 

tick, tock, tick, tock.....