God’s Gift of Time
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die …
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11
Do WE Understand Time?
While Time and the ability to use Time is not the most precious of God’s Gift, it is certainly one of the Great Gifts that the Creator has given. We can even go as far as to say that it is more precious than all the diamonds, the gold, the silver, minerals, and yes even the oil in the world. For without time, you would not be able to seek, store, nor use any of the natural gifts of God. This Gift of Time brings us full circle to the critical issue that we are facing as humans. All of us, at some point, have undervalued the things of God, while in hot pursuit of the things of this world. This is certainly not suggesting that the things of this world have no value or importance. They do, and the natural gifts mean a lot to our ability to live and enjoy life. On the other hand, if we don’t treasure the spiritual and yet tangible gifts, like Time, we will go through this world living at the level of animals, plants, and other creatures. According to the Bible, we were created to be a higher species and to be caretakers for the rest of creation. But if we don’t have a true bearing on what is important and what is not important, we will find ourselves using creation for our own comfort and not worry about the consequences. That seems to be the general attitude in the world today (“Let me just get mine and the heck with everything else”). What if there is a higher call and a greater purpose? What if Time is a Gift that can be used to develop good? What if Time can be converted from a noun into a verb and actually be used as action? Well, Time can be a great blessing to us, but we must understand how it works.
Let me first expound on how powerful Time is. When the Bible says, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, that needs to be explored. That statement means that everything created is under the authority of Time and is subject to change (go through seasons) based on the dictates of Time. For instance, every living organism goes through a cycle of birth, growth, decline, and death; it’s called a life cycle. Some have attempted to find ways around this cycle, but ultimately, have come to realize the inescapable power of Time. Time controls the worker on the job and the boss sitting in the office. Time controls the soldier on the battlefield and the doctor treating a patient. Even the person who decides that they will just ‘sit on the dock of the Bay and waste some time;’ Time controls them. Machines are controlled by Time: they rust out. Computers are controlled by time: they run down. If I got into a rocket and went to another planet, Time would meet me there. The Power and Control of Time is inescapable until you reach a shoreline of Eternity. That is where Time has its limits. So, when Solomon tells us, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, take it seriously.
Time is also precious. Simply put, it is irreplaceable. Some with wealth, have tried to buy more time, or manipulate systems to create time. Yet, they were no better off than the poor woman and the poor man working their way through Time. So, money cannot buy it. Armies cannot conquer it. Lawmakers cannot vote it out of power. It cannot be bargained with, nor can you find it at a bargain price. It is not sold or traded on the stock market. It is precious because it is limited and yet so many people treat it as nothing. They simply throw time away with the anticipation of another day coming. To top that off, everybody gets the next sixty seconds – FREE. The often quoted poem by the late Dr. Benjamin Mays, former president of Morehouse College – Atlanta GA, gives some insights of how precious and powerful time really is.
I have only just a minute, Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it. Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it.
Learning To Tell Time
We must admit that our culture has not placed a high priority on understanding the value of time. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we have tons of time-management studies under our belt as a human race. Yet very few have sat down to consider the spiritual, moral, and social impact of valuing Time. How could something so great and precious be overlooked? If we know that we will “give account if we abuse it,” why are we treating Time this way? It may go back to Brother Otis Redding’s’ reason for writing the hit song “Dock of the Bay.” Maybe we just don’t want others telling us how to spend our Time.
There is a way that we can “make the most of Time” even though we can never control time. At the same time, we will intersect with eternity and ultimately glorify God with our time. The first concept is using Time to your advantage. We must recognize the authority that God gave to mankind in the Garden of Eden. God said, “be rulers” not “be ruled.” You already know that you cannot change, delete, or extend time so the next best thing is to learn how to use it.
Solomon offers one option on using Time. His approach was to try everything. Just live life in high gear just to figure out how fast it would go – that is a theme in the Book of Ecclesiastes. When Solomon found out that that approach did not work, he quickly commented, “it is all vanity.” It is chasing after the wind and not catching anything. He also discovered that Time was still in control. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die. It is as if he woke up and said, Time is still controlling things. People are still living like that today. This is a callous approach to time, and you will never be able to be blessed by Time because you are abusing it. Those who steal, cheat, connive, murder, fornicate, and commit vile sins against God are not only destroying themselves, but they are also mocking Time. Notice I said “mocking” and not “marking.” To that Solomon says, “you were born and one day you will die” and Time will not apologize for interrupting your life. As humans, we are still “wasting Time.” Time has a simple reply of unconcern and says, “in a few more days, you too will be history.”
Knowing that our sinful nature would never allow us to make the best of Time, Jesus entered the planet at Bethlehem and gave us a totally new approach on how to discover the spiritual riches of Time and turn it into action. At the early age of twelve, rather than run and play, Jesus said to His parents, “didn’t you know that I must be about My Father’s Business.” Luke 2:49. Jesus used His authority, not to manipulate Time, but to use Time as a blessing and an advantage. Knowing the His Death Date was already set from His Birth Date, Jesus said, there are some things I need to get done in Time. Instead of sitting around waiting, our Lord got to work. He preached the Kingdom Message with such authority that the people who wanted to arrest Him had to admit, “never a man, spoke like This Man.” Jesus did that in Time. While Time was escorting Him closer to the Cross, Jesus said, “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life – no one comes to the Father but through Me.” He did that in Time. Jesus healed the sick in Time. Jesus cast out demons, (who were not subject to the same Time restraints as us but are subject to God’s Judgment), He drove them out in Time. This gave people Time to praise God rather than be smothered by life. When death tried to take Lazarus before his Time, Jesus went to the grave and called Lazarus back to life. He did that in Time. Still on His way to the Cross with Time escorting Him, Jesus said, “No one takes My Life from Me, I lay down My Life that I may take it up again.” Jesus did that in Time. When the hour arrived that Time said, this is Your final moment, Jesus responded, “It is finished.” He bowed His Holy Head and gave up His Spirit and died. It would appear that there was no changing Time, but three days later Death said, “I can’t hold Him.” The grave said, “I think I’m about to lose Him.” Jesus arose out of the grave and declared victory over Death, Hell, and the Grave. Then Jesus declared His Lordship over Time. Jesus went away into Heaven but made it clear in Revelation 10:6 that Time had an expiration date. He swore to God Almighty, “that there should be Time no longer.” Jesus Christ will expire Time when He returns. Until then, you and I must follow Him if we are to make the best use of Time.
The other approach that you and I have as believers is balancing Time with Life. In the same way that our Father has given other spiritual gifts, God has given us Time. It is to be used and not abused. One of Albert Einstein’s theories had to do with the time element which he explained as relative movement. Without going into greater detail beyond my understanding let’s explore how this movement relates to us. Some have illustrated time movement as a train or other vessel. People get onboard and are transported to a destiny. Sounds like a good picture but you and I know Time is not that stable and the ride through Time has its many ups and downs. With that being said, Time is like waves in the sea of life. You can either watch the waves come in or climb on board and let the wave take you to your destiny. Granted, there are lots of hazards to journeying through time, but the payoff is tremendous. People have caught the wave and have gone to incredible heights and achieved outstanding goals in life. So, what do you think God wants for you? His desire is that you mount the wave and learn to balance yourself so you can make your journey. That’s what Jesus did. Despite His being born in poverty and growing up in an obscure village in Galilee, Jesus conquered the world with nothing but His Word and the Holy Spirit.
There are three tools you will need to successfully balance yourself in Time. You will need Prayer. Prayer not only helps you learn God’s Will but will help you maintain communication with your Heavenly Father. He wants to talk with you all the Time and make sure you know how much He loves you.
To balance yourself in Time, you will need the Priority Tool. While I could simply say this tool is knowing God’s Will, it is more involved than that. Simply knowing God’s Will does not automatically mean you will do God’s Will. So, Priority helps you to make God’s Will your highest precedence but also your highest honor. Sometimes you cannot motivate yourself to do something just because it is right. The Priority Tool helps us get motivated by loving God and then serving God. Dr. Steven Covey called it “putting first things first.” Our culture is so accustomed to responding to immediate that we have all but forgotten about the important. Love God and make His Will your highest joy is the goal because that is exactly what God did for your Salvation. You are God’s priority.
The final tool is the Tool of Praise. Praise will help you celebrate when you hit the low spots in Time. Those waves will come crashing in and may even knock you for a loop, but Praise will bring you right back to the top. Praise conquers the complaining spirit and the negative attitudes. Praise looks to God and recognizes Him for giving the gift of Time. Paul and Silas were in a Philippian jailhouse on one occasion, and they put their Praise in action. Praise led to a Timing change. When they began to Praise God, all the prisoners started listening. One thing led to another as they were supposed to serve Time but declared that they were serving God instead. Well, the sound of their praise reached Heaven and God sent an earthquake to set them free. Your praise may not be that dramatic, but I guarantee, it will always be that powerful. Praise God in Time.