The Magnificent Gift of Time
2023. How did that happen?!
2023. When did that happen?!
It seems like only yesterday I was grappling with the change of a millennium … from 1999 to the grand year of 2000. How could that be 23 years ago?
Wasn’t it just last week when 1990 became 1991? Or last month when 1979 turned the page to 1980?
Time … it’s one of the greatest mysteries of life this side of eternity.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11
The Father … when He created mankind thousands of years ago … put eternity in our hearts.
Imagine that! You and I are made of the stuff of which eternity is made!
It’s that slice of eternity in our hearts that causes us to be uncomfortable in the measuring cup of time.
“Humans are amphibians – half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.” – C. S. Lewis
We wrestle with time … try to hold on to time … treasure time … but to no avail.
We … as the creations of the God of eternity … will never be able to make sense of this cheap yet priceless commodity known as “time”.
You see … we weren’t made for time … we were made for eternity.
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” – C. S. Lewis
Eternity will forever call us … woo us … remind us … invite us to live a life of unmatched meaning.
“God has set eternity in our heart, and man’s infinite capacity cannot be filled or satisfied with the things of time or sense.” – F. B. Meyer
So … if we were made for eternity and not for time … what do we do with the time which we have been given?
Should we wait impatiently for eternity?
Should we spend our allotted amount of time on earthly pleasures and temporary pursuits knowing that we are just passing through the hourglass that holds the sands of time?
Oh! How important it is to make every minute count for eternity!
Every choice we make should be made with eternity in mind.
Every word we speak should call others to the love of the eternal Father.
Every pursuit should draw us into His wonderful presence.
No longer are we fascinated by the lies of this temporary planet … but we are captivated by the eternal … and by the glorious business of heaven.
“Time is given to us to use in view of eternity.” – Harry Ironside
Time is a gift that is meant to be invested in eternity.
We are only given this day … this unmatched and miraculous day … to be lived one time.
This day will never come again.
It is up to me to fill this 24-hour period of time with the grace of eternity.
I can splash in the delight of eternity … while wading through the stuff of time.
We have only been given a limited amount of time … and each day is a rare and splendid gift.
Each moment that we are allowed to breathe … to encourage … to offer forgiveness … to pursue goodness … to exhibit kindness … is a unique and glorious endowment.
And we … because we have been made in the image of the eternal … have been given the opportunity to kiss each piece of time with the heart of eternity.
It is up to us … up to you and to me …during our tenure on earth … to change our fleeting moments into pieces of golden eternity.
How do we do that?
We do that every time we forgive someone who has wronged us.
We accomplish it when we love a difficult person.
We are clothed in eternity when we reach out to those in distress with the kindness of the Father.
“God hath given to man a short time here upon earth and yet upon this short time eternity depends.” – Jeremy Taylor
We can turn minutes into days when we choose to worship rather than complain.
We transform days into months when we spend time on our knees.
We make an eternal footprint in the sands of time when we clothe ourselves in the inexpressible joy of His presence.
So … how will you spend 2023?
Spending money? Losing weight? Eating too much?
Complaining about politics and the weather?
Being entertained endlessly by the twaddle of the day?
Or will you transform this magnificent gift of time into the stuff of which eternity is made?
What will you do?
“Lord, You make all things new
You bring hope alive in our hearts
And cause our spirits to be born again.
Thank You for this new year
For all the potential it holds.
Come and kindle in us
A mighty flame
So that in our time, many will see the wonders of God
And live forever to praise Your glorious Name.”
– Author Unknown
Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart, but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!