Is time your enemy or friend?
Like sand slipping through our fingers, time is passing. Each second an opportunity; one we will not have again. So many opportunities are wasted, lost through needless worry, procrastination, and fruitless indecision. Pearls Women’s Magazine |11
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s stewards of this valuable resource, we are accountable to God. ‘Time stands still for no man’. It is exhaustible. It is up to us to redeem time, while we are able.
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very second of every day is precious. We will not have this moment again, nor will we be given extra time to do those things that we have neglected. For the one who’s loved one dies suddenly, the knowledge that they begrudged them their time will haunt th em forever. For the one who’s partner leaves because they have been neglected, the lonely hours that ensue will be idled away wondering if they had invested more time in their partner, would they still be there. For the person that rejects the laws of society, their time will be at the hands of their captors. When God created night a n d d a y, h e s e t i n m o t i o n t h e concept of time. In six days, He created everything and t h e n H e r e s t e d f o r a d a y. F o r a brief period, humanity enjoyed a life free from the bondage of time, as Adam and Eve enjoyed life without the threat of death. Then they sinned in the garden a n d t i m e b e c a m e t h e i r e n e m y. S u d d e n l y, a p p o i n t e d t o e a c h were a set number of days. Whether we like it or not, this is our inheritance. We must make something of the gift of limited time. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (Message Bible) it states, Pearls Women’s Magazine |12
“There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal, A right time to destroy and another to construct, A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A righ t time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace.” We see here that God has established that there is a set time for everything. Just as He created night and day, He also
has established ‘every season under heaven’. Knowing where we are at and where we are headed, God is able to help us. Occasionally, for the righteous, God may suspend time to enable the battle to be won (Joshua 10:23), but ultimately we have a limited number of hours in each day. Therefore, it makes sense that we consult Him on how to live our lives to achieve the maximum benefit from the 24 hours available to us every day. With each second brimming with opportunities, the need to make wise decisions is paramount. What is your opportune time right now? Are you capitalising on the season you are in? Like Jonah, are you running from God, thinking that one day you will make peace with Him, hoping it happens before you run out
Seize the day before time gets away... of time? Al ternatively, are you making the most of this valuable resource in your life, embracing its challenges and harnessing it s gift? What changes would you make to your life if you knew that your allotted days were few? Some say that what we give our time to what we value most. If we give most of our time to work or the television or recreation, we neglect other things. In economics there is this notion called opportunity cost. It is where you trade something to obtain one thing and in so doing, forgo the opportunity to obtain another. What are you forgoing when you spend your time in mean ingless activities? The writer of Ecclesiastes adequately sums it up like this in chapter 12 and verse 6 (Message Bible): “Life, lovely
while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.” There is only one thing that we can take for granted and that is that eventually we will run out of time. Until then, let’s grasp the sands of our lives while we have the chance. Let’s make each moment count and arrange each day to fulfil our destinies and to make those that matter most the centre of our worlds.
Next time you are tempted to say to God or to one you love, “I don’t have the time”, stop and think about it. Ask yourself the question, what is taking all of my time? You may be satisfied with the answer or you may decide that some change is necessary. Time may be the enemy of many, but a precious friend to those who grasp its nature and harness its gift of life. What are you doing with your most precious resource?
Six TIME savers
•Seize the Day – This day will not come again, make the most of it. •Start your war on procrastination today! – Choose to do today that which could easily be put off for tomorrow. •Ask God to help you - “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6
•Prioritise every time - Establish your priorities and tackle each problem or task wisely, weighing them against what you highly value. •Plan ahead – This prevents wasted time and helps you foresee future needs •Remember to schedule rest - Rest is just as important as action. Pearls Women’s Magazine | 13