Time … and what to do with it
We have been looking at the idea of giving up your life for the sake of Christ in advance of the July/August Briefing. Last week, Robert Doyle looked at the concept of giving up your life in the context of worship; this week, Dave Andrews tackles an important question that should prey on the minds of all Christians: as I give up my life for Christ, what should I be doing with my time?
Ancient man lived by the seasons. Modern man lives by the hours and seconds. We worship the athlete who takes milliseconds off world record ‘times’ and ‘splits’. The world has shifted from being summoned by church bells to being ‘watched’ by the town hall clock. Nowadays we strap it onto our wrists and call it a ‘watch’, and spend the day watching the watch. As I type, my computer notifies me of the minutes left until certain meetings have to be attended. If I do not get to the meeting at the designated time, everybody will know I am ‘late’, even though I am still very much alive.
The dissection of time is not morally bad or good, any more or less than the invention of the printing press was bad or good. As with all of God's creation, it all depends on how you use it. Time can be used wisely, or it can be a tyrant. All of God's gifts carry an accountability to respond to the gift, and therein lies the work that can be either a joy or an overwhelming burden.
In this article, I look at how we can think about time as Christians and how to work out what to do with it.
Why did God create time?
It is now two thousand years back to the time of Christ. It is another two thousand years back to Abraham. God certainly takes a long time to keep his promises. Why didn't he just drop Jesus into the Garden of Eden before Genesis Chapter 4?
But God does not see time the same way we see it. Peter summarises:
... with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)
This passage tells us three things (at least):
- God takes a long view of time but every moment is important.
- Time is the arena in which God's promises are fulfilled.
- This arena shows his kindness and patience to us, so we will believe the gospel and repent.
Read the full article online (2759 words).
I miss Dave. He grasped our culture and our situation in it so well, didn’t he?
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