“But As for Me, I Trust In You, O Lord; I Say, “You Are My God.” My Times Are In Your Hand…” (Psalm 31: 14-15)
Why Manage Your Time: Because if you don’t, your time will manage you! You can’t bottle up time and save it for a rainy day, nor can you deposit it in a bank to withdraw whenever you please. No! Time, like an ever-flowing stream, has us all in its grip and takes us wherever it wills. We are all caught in its relentless embrace. However, just as we cannot control the wind or the tide, we can still manage our time to our advantage.
Imagine a five-lane highway extending from Earth into outer space; stretching on, beyond what even your imagination can grasp. Your life is just a single line on that vast highway; your seventy, eighty, ninety years here on solid ground are as small as a white line on that endless road that leads to eternity.
When we view time from that perspective, what is seventy, eighty, ninety
Time Began With God
Ephesians 5:15-16
” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
The Scriptures clearly show that everything under the sun has a time and purpose. As stewards of time, we should spend it wisely, not foolishly. God has given each of us a limited amount of time and talent, and we are to treat those moments and skills as precious treasures and rare gems. Just as a diamond cutter only has one chance to cut a diamond correctly and cannot undo his work, we also get only one chance to shape our lives here. That’s why we must make the most of the valuable gift called time.
The moment you were born, the clock began to tick. No matter how hard you try, you cannot stop time from moving forward; you cannot stretch it or recreate it. Time is relentless. It doesn’t bend to our desires. You can’t negotiate with it, strike a deal with it, or bribe it; it simply continues on its course. Time shows no affection, no mercy, no favoritism, and it doesn’t respect anyone; it just keeps slipping away.
Time neither drags nor flies; it only seems that way. Whether you’re rich or poor, young or old, wise or otherwise, the clock keeps ticking—60 seconds per minute, with no exceptions to this rule.
To two teenagers in love, two hours can seem like only fifteen minutes; fifteen minutes in a biology class might feel like two hours. It’s different from two weeks in Oahu and two weeks on a starvation diet. Farmers measure time by plowing, planting, and harvesting. Families track time through birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. History counts time by decades and centuries, eras and empires. But time does not care about people, places, or things. It doesn’t answer you; you answer it. It gets in your face; it simply won’t go away; it refuses to be denied; it does not lie; it is what it is. It conquers you; you do not conquer it. It’s not just perception; it’s reality. Our lives are but mere flickering shadows in the passing of a day.
“But As For Me, I Trust In You, O Lord; I Say, “You Are My God.” My Times Are In Your Hand…”
As Time Began With God So It Will End With God.
We are all the center of our own small world. If we live in a house next to the highway, it’s just another car passing by. If we are a car on the highway, it’s just another house along the road. We all see ourselves as the center of our universe. Life here might seem long, and we may even feel important to ourselves, but all of this must be compared to someone far greater than us, and that someone is God. After all, He is the one who placed us here. Each of us will give an account to Him; as the Bible says, “after this the judgment.”
Solomon describes our life under the sun without God this way;
“… Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What profit does a man gain from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth endures forever.
That’s too blasé for me. Life is too precious, and time is too valuable to see it as just another 365-day journey around the sun.
How Do You Spend Your Time?
One study revealed that the average 70-year-old man has spent 24 years sleeping, 14 years working, 8 years in amusements, 6 years at the dinner table, 5 years in transportation, 4 years in conversation, 3 years in education, and 2 years studying and reading. His other four years were spent in miscellaneous pursuits. Of those four years, he spent 45 minutes in church on Sundays and 5 minutes ikn prayer each day. This adds up to a not-at-all-impressive total of five months that he gave to God over the seventy years of his life.
Even if this man had been a faithful churchgoer who attended Sunday school and three one-hour services each week, he would have spent only one year and nine months in church. A study showed that a typical 70-year-old man spends 24 years sleeping, 14 years working, 8 years in entertainment, 6 years at the dinner table, 5 years in transportation, 4 years talking, 3 years in education, and 2 years reading and studying. His remaining four years are in miscellaneous activities. Out of those four years, he spent 45 minutes in church on Sundays and 5 minutes in prayer each day. This adds up to only five months dedicated to God over a lifetime of seventy years. Even if this man was a devoted churchgoer attending Sunday school and three one-hour services weekly, he would have only spent about one year and nine months in church.
Well, thankfully, Solomon did not leave us dangling like wind chimes blowing in the breeze. He reminds us that life is more than a trivial pursuit. He also reminds us that life here involves living in obedience to God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Let Us Hear the Conclusion 0f The Whole Matter: Fear God And Keep His Commandments, For This Is Man’s All. For God Will Bring Every Work Into Judgment, Including Every Secret Thing, Whether Good or Evil.”
A life not lived for God is a life lived in vain. No one wants to reach the end of their days with the words of King Saul falling from their lips; “Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.” He had more opportunities to bring glory to God in his life than most men, but he wasted them all.
Some time ago, psychologist William Moulton Marston surveyed three thousand people and asked, “What have you to live for?” He was shocked to discover that 94 percent were just getting through the present while waiting for the future. They were waiting for something better to happen, waiting for their children to grow up, waiting for them to leave home, waiting for a better time to take a long-planned trip, waiting for tomorrow. They were all waiting, unaware that all they ever have is today, because yesterday is gone and tomorrow never arrives.
If we want to be meaningful, we need to recognize that our lives are brief in the light of eternity. Only by obeying God and living for Him will the work of our hands be established and blessed.
Psalm 90:17
“And Let The Beauty Of The Lord Our God Be Upon Us, And Establish The Work Of Our Hands For Us; Yes, Establish The Work Of Our Hands.”
A God of New Beginnings
In “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who, against his will, takes him back to a time when he was still a young man. Scrooge sees himself proposing to the woman he loves, only for her to break their engagement because she realizes he has come to love money more than her. As Scrooge watches the scene unfold, we can see the emotions crossing his face. We can imagine what is going through his mind: What a fool he had been! How his life would have been different if he had married, if his heart hadn’t been hardened by the love of money. Perhaps that young man wouldn’t have become this wretched, bitter old miser.
Well, consider this: How would you feel if the ghost of your past visited you? How would you like to go back and relive your sins, your mistakes, and the foolish choices that changed your life? How would it feel to watch helplessly, knowing what’s about to happen, unable to do anything to alter the outcome, feeling the sharp pain of regret for not taking the other path, or at least wondering what might have happened if your choices had been different? For most people, there’s really no need for a nighttime visit from one of Charles Dickens’ three spirits, because we do it ourselves. We replay the past again and again, projected on the screen of our minds. Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back and talk to yourself at those key moments, warn that person in the movie of your life where the road they’re taking will lead?
We’ve all experienced regret over the past. It takes many forms:
· Regret over a failed marriage.
. Regret over broken relationships of all kinds.
· Regret over mistakes you made raising your kids.
· Regret over bad career moves, missed business opportunities.
· Regret over secret sins and their consequences.
· Regret at not following God’s call to serve him in a certain area.
But the Good news is that God gives us a new start in life. While I cannot change yesterday, I can change today and the rest of my life.
Paul the Apostle put it this way;
“If any man be in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and all things become new.” The key is to repent of your sins and rejoice in God’s forgiveness. You must do both, or you will spend the rest of your days in self-condemnation and defeat.
Don’t Just Think About It, Do It!
The Apostle Paul also writes,
“My friends, I don’t feel I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind me, and I strain toward what is ahead. I run toward the goal so I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you.”
Time is the fringe of eternity; that is why you must live each day in its amber light.
How do we rise above the pain of failure and defeat and get closer to God? We do so by understanding that failure is not a permanent barrier. Failure should motivate you to learn from it and try again. Don’t be afraid to face your failures openly and reflect on them. Confessing your failures to God helps you realize that you are not alone in the universe. Examine the reasons behind your failure. This can be difficult, but ask God to grant you wise insight (James 1:5) into your failures.
If we think only negatively about our failures, as we endeavor to push them out of sight and out of mind, we will never learn from them and never gain the confidence we need to deal with the problems we face every day; only forgiveness from God smooths the rugged road of life.
Like Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army, said: “We are made for larger ends than Earth can encompass. Oh, let us be true to our exalted destiny.”
Have a blessed New Year!
He’s Only a Prayer Away:
Dr. Robert Bryant