Time

part 2

In the first part we looked at how the scarce resource of time can be lost through procrastination. We need to do things now for the future is uncertain. Let’s continue looking at time and how we can make the best use of it.

This is what a well-known Bible character, David said:

You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. ¹

So brief is mans life that it amounts to a handbreadth or in other words basically nothing. Christ was concerned that we use our time wisely not wasting the short period each one of us has. As matter of fact he was so concerned about this issue that a he spoke a parable about it and this is what he said:

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out; "Here’s the bridegroom Come out to meet him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out". "No", they replied, "there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves." But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. "Sir! Sir!" they said. "Open the door for us." But he replied, "I tell you the truth, I don’t know you."

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. ²

Jesus advice at the end of this parable is to watch. He is saying to be on the alert, not so much in looking for the coming bridegroom but rather being ready for Jesus when he comes. If we want to be a believer in God and be part of his future kingdom then we need to continuously prepare ourselves. We can not let up even for a short time on this aim, so we will need to develop the characteristics of patience and perseverance. Time moves on relentlessly, it does not stop to let us have a short break from our duties of preparation. Remember what I said before about procrastination. It is like a burglar in a house - if we let it loose within ourselves it will not only steal our time but it will steal many opportunities. And unfortunately the door to opportunity closes when we reach the end of our allocated life time.

Many say "there will be time" to prepare ourselves fully. But all this sort of thought does is lull one into a false sense of security. Whenever we find ourselves thinking this we should think about the words:

"You do not know the day or the hour " of his coming.

We still own today so let us use this day and every day from now to prepare ourselves for the wedding feast in the above parable (in other words, the Kingdom of God). For one day in the future the days of our life will no longer be ours but will belong to God.

Here are some example of events that have happened in the old testament of the Bible where people lived there lives taking no account of their God only to find that there was no tomorrow.

• There were the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who lived lives without concern for God. As they lived their lives they had opportunity each day they woke up to make that the day that they turned to God. Some like the man known as Lot and his family took the opportunity whereas the majority didn't. As a result, one day that opportunity didn't exist anymore and those who hadn't turned their heart to God were destroyed.

• Along a similar idea was the flood. Noah and his family prepared for the coming flood because they had faith in their Heavenly Father. The majority of people rejected the idea of their being a huge flood. Yet each morning as they woke up and faced a new day they still had opportunity to repent and to join Noah and his family in building boats. Yet as time past and the day of retribution came, this opportunity became more and more limited. Noah and his family however every day worked busily preparing the boat that was to deliver them to the symbolical salvation. Noah was given only a limited period to build it but despite this time pressure he succeeded in his aim.

We are under time pressure to prepare ourselves sufficiently to be ready for the coming of our Lord. In our daily lives we face continual time pressure. Like you faced time pressure when you want to get to work or school on time. You have to make sure that you wake early enough in the morning, then you have to have breakfast, get dressed and travel to where you work or go to school. Obviously if you prepare yourself sufficiently before hand like laying out the breakfast table the night before or getting up earlier you will be more certain of getting here on time.

The same goes for the Kingdom of God, the more we prepare ourselves and accept that there is time pressure on us to be ready the more likely that we will earn the title "Good and faithful servant" in the kingdom to come.

So it is up to each one of us as to whether we use our time wisely or not. Today is all we have to work with. The past is irretrievably gone, and the future is not with us yet. We must prepare ourselves today if we are to be ready for return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must use the time allocated to us wisely. Dividing it carefully among those things we have to do. This has always been a wise thing to do as wise men in the past have vouched for. Let's read what one wise man known as King Solomon wrote about using our time:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and

a time to die,

a time to plant and

a time to uproot,

a time to kill and

a time to heal,

a time to tear down and

a time to build,

a time to weep and

a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and

a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and

a time to refrain,

a time to search and

a time to give up,

a time to keep and

a time to throw away,

a time to tear and

a time to mend,

a time to be silent and

a time to speak,

a time to love and

a time to hate,

a time for war and

a time for peace" ³

There is an allocated time for each part of our life. Let us not be like the ten virgins who didn't use their time wisely to prepare for the bridegroom. Why not make the choice to start each day as part of the God fearing people of this world so that you might be acceptable to your creator, God.

God is giving you the opportunity now, to enter into a relationship with Him that will ultimately result in the bands of time being removed from us – you are being offered eternal life. For in that day you will step from mortality to immortality, and time the taskmaster will cease to exist.