“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come.  It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” – Mark 13:32-37.

BE WISE

“One of the scarcest commodities is time.  Christians seem just as afflicted by the time squeeze as anyone.  Finding time for Bible study, church attendance, service, and other activities stretches their faith and patience.  Is that the way God intends for us to live?   Are we at the mercy of our generation’s hectic pace, or has the Lord provided instruction in His Word that can help us use and invest our time wisely?  The Apostle Paul exhorts believers in his letter to the Ephesians church regarding the proper use of their hours, days and weeks: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is – Eph. 5:15-17.

Paul serves notice in this passage that people fall into one of two categories – those who invest their time wisely and those who spend their time foolishly.  As we think about our lives, what are we living for?  If we knew that we had only six months to live, how would we spend our time?  Would there be a difference compared to how we presently manage our various duties and opportunities? 

TOMORROW MAY NEVER COME

Many of us fall into the trap of planning for the future while wasting the present.  We talk about what we will do and how we will spend our years once we retire.  But none of us knows the span of our existence:  Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth – Prov. 27:1.

Since we do not know the future, we must concern ourselves with how to invest the time we have been given now.  But no matter how we define it or how often we are reminded of its importance there never seems to be enough time to accomplish all we desire.  The modern conveniences that were supposed to liberate us have failed.  Even what leisure time we have is scheduled around the competing activities of children and parents, all vying for our attention. So the years go by and we sigh:  Time passes quickly, doesn’t it?  Although time is a space in the eternal heart and mind of God, we finite beings feel the pressure of living in the dimension of time.

ETERNITY IS CERTAIN

The stress and anxiety that comes from living in a time-conscious world even affect our health.  Our nation has one of the world’s highest rates of high blood pressure.  Ulcers, heart disease, and strokes can often be linked to our fast-paced lifestyles.  We even try to cram God into our time box.  We talk about worship on a particular day of the week, and on that day we limit our worship to an hour or so.  We cannot confine the Lord in such a manner because He sees all time against the backdrop of eternity which has been described in this way: “If a bird came once a year and carried away one grain of sand at a time and kept returning until all the grains of sand in the world were removed, then eternity would have just begun” That idea staggers our thinking.   Our finite minds can only dream of eternity, and even then, we see a dim shadow of the glory of everlasting life.

But as Christians we are a people of eternity.  We live in this space called time with the gift of eternal life indwelling our beings.  We have an eternal inheritance.  We possess the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.  His life will never end and cannot be dated by a clock or a calendar.  I can perhaps understand an unbeliever wasting his time with drinking or drugs or working day and night to achieve more fame, more money, and more power. I can understand that because they are not sons and daughters of the Eternal One.

TIME CAN BE ADEQUATE

Christians, however, can know – despite the pressures we place on ourselves – that there is always enough time to do the will of God:  So then do not be foolish, but understand what will of the Lord is – Eph. 5:17.  God will make sure we have adequate time to achieve what He desires.  He never requires or asks more of us in a given day than He has planned to do through us.  That does not mean we will accomplish all we feel we should do.

As long as we are living in a right relationship to Christ and walking sensitively to His leadership, He enables us to achieve all that He expects.  From the moment we wake up in the morning, God has already provided all the necessary time to do His will.  He guides and governs our day, our opportunities, our chores, and our relationships in such a way that His plans are accomplished.  Proper planning, can help us to fulfill His will.  So many of us simply react to the turns of the day.  While the unexpected can always be expected to happen, the one who prayerfully and carefully plans can depend for guidance upon the Lord to whom nothing is unexpected.

Dr Joyce Aryee