Redeeming the time…
Time is an extremely important aspect of our lives. There’s nothing like it! We need it. However, the Christian must manage it successfully; or at least have our priorities straight! It’s almost a rite of passage for teens to wish their days away to become adults, and adults sometimes wish they could go back and hit the “do over” button from their youth. T-I-M-E. We all crave it!
I’ve heard so many friends and colleagues make comments such as, “I need a few more hours in the 24 hour day! I need an extra day on the weekend to get things done. If I could stop time for a few hours each day, I would love it.” I admit I’ve made similar sentiments before…when we perceive ourselves as LACKING sufficient time, our eagerness to gain it back or make up for “lost time” magnifies.
Let’s turn our thoughts to the concept of time – specifically about today. Let’s break it down. What IS today? It’s a 24 hour period of time never experienced before – never to be repeated - nor will we ever relive it exactly as we did today. There is no today, except today! You may never live to see another day, exactly as this day. TODAY is tangible, it is now, it IS the day the Lord has made. For you. You will not have today tomorrow.
Perhaps you are closer today than you were yesterday in making an important decision, making a step you need to take, determining a choice that is over-due in coming, acknowledging a sin that you need to renounce. TODAY is the day to make those choices! Before the sun sets and tomorrow’s demands overshadow today’s necessities…move forward Christian! Ask God to direct your paths. He will.
I recently spoke at length with a young lady, about the age of 18. Bright, talented, ambitious. Characteristics that made me feel hopeful for this current generation of kids. She had burning questions about humanity and why things work or don’t work and questions for which there are no good answers. The longer she spoke, the more clearly I began to identify her underlying issue. (Life Moment – try not to interrupt when someone is trying to expose their soul to you) This was the year she thought her dad would stop drinking. That her siblings would take more initiative and do household chores without being repeatedly asked. This would be the year that her mom would yell and cry a lot less, and the family would spend more time together on the weekends. This year they would get along together as a family.
She was disappointed. Her last year at home…hadn’t lived up to her dreams. She graduates this year, and she plans to move out of her parent’s house this summer. She said, “This school year has just been – poof! Gone! I’ll be on my own next year. Before you know it, I’ll be old – like 25.” (I couldn’t help but grin on that sentence). “My life is almost over! Oh my stars, what time is it?!” she exclaimed, as she scrambled to find her I-phone in her bag, and dash out to her car. (Time had run longer than we both anticipated).
Does any of that sound familiar? The young lady was right – painfully right. Have YOU experienced a “time crisis” before? Our hopes and dreams from yesterday – are history. Yesterday becomes today…and if we’re blessed, today becomes tomorrow. But, it’s not too late…you still have TODAY.
Young people, tomorrow you’re going to be thirty. Adults, tomorrow you’re going to be 75. Poof! There goes time! You can’t get it back. It is vital to use TODAY as best you can. Don’t look for someone to blame. Don’t look for reasons on why things aren’t the way that you want them to be. God wants you to act and behave in HIS best interest. If you act in His best interest, your best interest will automatically follow. Life Moment: We should pray constantly, and act cautiously.
I hope the Christian isn’t the one in the group who complains, complains, and complains! You know there’s ALWAYS one. You are the one who fosters the atmosphere around you. Your home. Your office. Your cubicle. Your room. YOU must take personal responsibility for your life. Purpose in your heart to serve the Lord, and He will deliver right on time, every time! Try not to carry over someone else’s mood into your zone!
Instead of just reading these words, how about taking a moment…Search your heart and ask God to help you make the best use of today – and if there’s a tomorrow – to help you make time for Him and to move forward with your God-called life.
(I sincerely hope the young lady’s parents realize how much she desires time with them! Oh, how short are the days when the little ones leave the nest…)
Look UP my friends!
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