Time

“Time flies,” we sometimes say. Or the opposite: “Time drags.” Or sometimes it seems like “time stands still.” Actually, the only time that happened was when God held back the sun for Joshua in order to win a battle. (See Joshua 10.) That was over 3,000 years ago. Other than that exception to God’s order, time has been marching along at the same clip since the beginning of creation.

Sometimes I have wished for more hours in a day. But I was cured from that desire after a trip back from Israel that added seven hours to our day. It took days to recover from that. And I decided that God knew exactly what He was doing when He ordered the hours of our days to match the design of our bodies. Why do we mess with that?

Time is valuable. This present moment occurs once in our lifetime. How we choose to spend it matters. Sometimes time is the most precious gift we can give to a loved one. Time we spend in God’s word and prayer is honored by God. There is no substitute for this process of communicating with Him.

Yes, it’s possible to waste time on things that don’t matter. So we are constantly making decisions that reflect our values. And it’s hard. Resting isn’t being lazy if we are using that time to focus on God and replenish our weary bodies and souls. And over-activity isn’t a means to prove how strong and ambitious we are. As in all things in life, we need balance.

Have you ever felt like the clock ruled your life? We aren’t to be a slave to time. We must control this God given commodity. It was His invention, after all. And He created it for our pleasure and use, not our frustration. It can be our servant, not our master.

So how are you planning to use your time today? Does that honor the Lord? Maybe we all need to do a little rearranging of our schedules. Remember that today was once a “tomorrow.” It will soon be a “yesterday.” How can we make it count so that we will not feel that we have lived today in vain?