I had a conversation the other day with someone about home repairs. The joke is that by the time you get everything done you need to and would like to do, you basically start over on that list again, because there is always something that needs worked on that you can be doing. Imagine if you have multiple houses and/or very little time in which to get things done. On a different, but similar note, if you have young children, it may feel like there is very little time to get more done than the basics of keeping everyone fed, clean, and alive. Anything beyond that is just bonus if it can be done. Just think back to different seasons in your life in how you had, or didn’t have, much free time. Do you perceive time the same way not that you did 10 years ago?
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1
How valuable is your time? When you are young, it seems to last forever, but as you age, it goes by faster each year. We don’t always consider how long something takes, unless we are in a hurry. Then a few seconds seem a bit more precious to us. Unless you are in an automobile race, speeding to gain a few extra seconds does not always make that big of a difference in your day. Would you consider yourself a wise person when it comes to using your time? I seem to be more efficient when I have more to do and less time to do it, than when I have more flexibility. Crunch time seems to be a motivator to get things done quickly. What would you do differently if you were given an extra hour in each day?
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:15
When did you become aware of your own mortality? Unless you have a close relative that passes away, when you are young, death is not on the radar screen of most of us. As we enter adulthood and later in live, it becomes more of an awareness, as we realize that we all have the same fate, just at different times. It is humbling to realize that God only knows when your time will manifest to pass from this life to the next. I’m not sure how our lives would change if we all knew when our lives would end. As if we all had an expiration date, and all we had to do was look at it. Would we treat others any differently as they got closer to expiring?
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10
Its easy to ask what we would do different if we knew we had one week left to live. It is harder to say or know what we would do. The things that are most important to us would re-prioritize quickly and we would soon forget the things that tend to waste our time, and make the most of what we have left. Shouldn’t this be what we do every day? Would you want to spend meaningful time with those you loved? Again, shouldn’t this be the case every day? Take a moment to share with others today how much they mean to you. Enjoy, as much as possible, the moments spent with others through the day, even if just in ordinary things. Be grateful for each day you have been given and use the time you have in the best way you are able. I need regular reminders of this to make my time lived meaningful, not just for me, but for everyone around me as well.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Yours in Christ,
Clark
