Time

     I'm fascinated by the concept of Time.  From the moment of our conception until we draw our last breath, we are bound by Time.  Our very heartbeat is measured by Time.  A normal heartbeat is 60 to 100 beats per minute, known as "bpm."

    We have 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24-hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 56 weeks in a year.  Our lives revolve around a ticking clock.  

     The antique clock pictured above is literally a ticking clock (I purchased it from an uncle in NC many decades ago).  The pendulum on this clock swings back and forth to mark each second of time.  The swing movement causes a definite "ticking" sound that is a constant reminder that time is passing.

    Sit in a quiet room with such a clock and the constant tick-tock quickly becomes very noticeable.  However, after you've lived with such a clock for a while, you no longer hear the ticking sound as it becomes a background noise your brain dismisses.

     

     Although our every heartbeat is bound by Time, such a concept is so deeply engrained into our very existence that we dismiss the sound and walk through life with little thought to the passing of Time.  I was struck by this thought when I recently heard the song, What are We Waiting For? by King and Country, and the line:  "Why are we wasting all the time like someone's making more?"

    I thought, "Wow!"  We all waste time -- time that is then quickly in the past and no longer usable for us; it's gone, never to be available again.  No one is making more time for us.  That's why the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time..." 5:15-16.

    When God created the world, He also created Time.  God has always lived outside the boundary of Time.  Before the earth was created, there was no such thing as Time, and once the earth is re-formed by God for His kingdom in the future, Time will once again cease to exist and Forever will begin for us.  Our finite, Time-bound minds cannot comprehend such a life.  But, that's okay.  God is the One in control of all that stuff and we can trust Him to bring it all to a satisfactory completion.  One of the things you can count on is that God always has a plan and a purpose for everything.

    So, what should our attitude toward Time be?  We need to ask God to, "teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom," Psalm 90:12.  And the way we can do that is to follow the words of Jesus:  "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you," Matthew 6:33.

    When we seek God's Time management in our lives, we will have time enough and when our Time on earth is up, we can say with Jesus, "I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do," John 17:4.

    I love the Latin phrase, carpe diem - seize the day!