Time: A Precious Commodity

26 Sep

There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.  (Eccl 3:1-8)

I was texting someone this afternoon:  one of my former parishioners who moved close to where I am located this weekend for a conference.  He is in college right now.  He told me about his most recent grades, all excellent as usual, and then remarked about how fast the years are going.  He is already in the midst of his second year in college and it seems as if he had just begun a week ago rather than a year and a half ago.

I told him that my parents always told me that time gets faster as we get older.  I never believed them.  I just laughed because I could not imagine time going any faster than it did when I was younger.

As I began to age, I realized that, perhaps, they may have been correct.  I still discounted the idea, however.

But, as I near sixty years of age, I am ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat.

Yes, time flies.  And it does get faster the older we become.

There is such a timeliness to everything that we do.  From the moment that we are born, we begin to mark our days in time.  Time — and deadlines — continue to pursue us relentlessly throughout our lives.

Unlike us, though, there is an exquisite timelessness to our God.

God exists outside of time, which is one of the reasons that we have a hard time even trying to understand Him.

We do know and have come to appreciate that there is a timeliness and order to everything in our lives.  As we hear in Ecclesiastes today, there is a time for everything under heaven.

God has given us time this day.  It is ours to use as we wish: to waste, to squander, to be productive.

How are you going to use your time today?

FAITH ACTION:  Ask God to help you appreciate the time He has given to you today and ask Him to guide you to its best use.