Time

When you write the date, have you remembered to write “2019” instead of “2018”?   Yes, another year has passed.  Have you wondered: where has time gone?

Let’s take the time to think about time:

Time is a gift.  In each day there are 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds – and every one of them is a precious gift from God.  Someone once said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless.  You can’t own it, but you can use it.  You can’t keep it but you can spend it.  Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” *

Time is brief.  Perhaps you can relate to Job’s statement about the passing of time:  “Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.  They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey” (Job 9:25-26).

Time must be invested wisely.  We can choose to either use and invest in eternal things or allow to drift by without taking advantage of the gift we have been given.  “See then that you walk circumspectly [or “carefully”], not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Time is limited.  It is limited in that we only have a certain amount of time to use and to make the most of it.  A big-time sports fan was watching a football game with his grandchildren.  He had just turned seventy-five and was feeling a little wistful.  “You know,” he said to his grandson, Nick, “it’s not easy getting old.  I guess I’m in the fourth quarter now.”  “Don’t worry, Grandpa,” Nick said cheerily. “Maybe you’ll go into overtime.” *

There is something far better than “overtime” for the faithful child of God!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Sin puts us on the path to eternal destruction, the “second death” (Matthew 7:13; Revelation 21:8).  But “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we can be saved from our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).  God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Tom Farrell once wrote about H.L. Hunt: “H. L. Hunt made millions as a Texas oilman.  He was an aggressive businessman with little regard for time. His chief confidant, John, might be called in the middle of the night as quickly as in the middle of the day.

One night at 2:00 AM, Hunt phoned John.  He excitedly declared, “John, I just made the greatest trade of my life. I traded the here for the hereafter… I just got saved.” *

Trading the here for the hereafter: that is investing time wisely.  Won’t YOU invest in eternal things by surrendering your life in obedience to the Gospel of Christ?

— David A. Sargent

* Illustrations gleaned from https://www.ministry127.com/resources/illustrations/time