Time for Eternity, Part 1

May, 2006

by: Jay Underwood

I can still hear Steve Lawson’s voice ringing out when he was telling the story of how his dad gave him the very small amount of spending money for college “Son, just remember, when that’s gone there isn’t anymore, that’s all there is.” This was one of the illustrations he used while teaching on Psalm 90 here at CBC back in March. The theme of this Psalm is found in verse 12, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” The point here being that our time on this earth is short and we need to make it count in a God-honoring, eternal way.

Time-management is not one of my strongest areas. Why I have chosen to write on it, I’m not entirely sure or maybe that is why– because I need to be taught on it as well! In any case it’s an area that so many people struggle in. Some common wonderings from parents are “How much time do I devote to my family (spouse and children), my job, kid’s activities, vacation, or even myself?” The students may be considering time with family, time with friends, homework, sports or other extra curricular activities. But what’s the one thing that is missing from these lists? That’s right, God; God is missing. Another way to look at it is to ask yourself, “How am I using the time God has given me? Am I considering Him first and then organizing the rest of my or my family’s life around Him or does God get the left-overs, those two or three minutes as I’m drifting off into a sleep-coma?” Some other questions might be “Are my family and I making the most of our time in order that God would get the most glory?” and “Are we “numbering our days” so as to present to God “a heart of wisdom”?

What else does God’s Word say about how we are to use our time? We are again shown in the Psalms how short life is (Ps 89:47), we are exhorted to make the most of our time as wise and godly people (Eph 5:15-16), we are to make the most of our time in order to share the Gospel (Col 4:5) and we should fear God in how we use our time, for God will judge our works, the things that we fill our days with (1 Pet 1:17). There is also the principle of faithfulness in our service to the Lord that can be applied to how we use our time. We find this kind of faithfulness in passages like 1 Cor 10:31: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” and Mat 24:45: “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?” Of course Christian faithfulness is about action and action requires our time. Most notably James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” So ask yourself, “Do I take the time to “do” the Word? What are my days filled up with? What percentage of my time is spent on things that will have some kind of eternal value?” Next month we will try and address some more of the specifics of how we spend our time. Until then, may we all spend our time in such a way that the Lord will be able to say to us, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Mat 25:21,23)