Daylight Savings Time. Standard Time. Time Zone. Time change. “The times, they are a’changin’.” Time line. Time Out. Time crunch. Time to go. What time is it? Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Do you have the time? Time marches on. Time stands still. Take your time. Time Management. Good timing. Bad timing. Timing is everything! Timing Belt. This is a bad time. “Time, times and half a time.” What was your time? That was your time, not mine! Killing time. Time travel. A Wrinkle in Time. “A stitch in time.” The Land Before Time. “Man knows not his time.” “Time waits for no one.” Overtime. Double time. Time keeper. Time In A Bottle. Time is of the essence. Time flies when you’re having fun! “There is a time for everything.” In the last Time. Time’s up.

            Based on this list (and you probably have thought of more phrases) it is obvious that time is very important to us. The reason is simple: we are time bound. We have no choice. To be on earth is to be regulated by time. A “day” is one rotation of the earth, but the way we measure that day in seconds, minutes and hours is arbitrary and could have been any different increments. Similarly a “year” is one revolution of the earth around the sun, but to divide the year into months is also an arbitrary choice as is our way of marking the years into what we call “history.” We have made those designations and live by those categories precisely because we live “in” time. All of human existence resides in between that moment God created the universe (and thus started the “clock”) and the moment when all will end (including the keeping and recording of time).

            During our time on earth we serve God who is eternal, the ever present “I Am”, and therefore not bound by time (which should answer most questions about how God can have no beginning or end, and how He can know the future). Because we are finite, time matters to us. Because God is infinite, time has no power over Him. But because we matter to God, He helps us manage time. King David speaks for us all when he declared, “I trust in you, O Lord... My times are in Your hands!” (Psalm 31:14, 15). So how can God help us and teach us concerning the use of our time?

            During the block of time we call November, on the time period that occurs every seventh earth rotation named Sunday, we will be gathering with others who believe in the One Who Is Timeless. We will meet because we know that our Eternal God cares about our existence, has entered human history through the person of Jesus Christ, and meets us in our time through His Holy Spirit. So we will come at the appointed time to hear the Word of God so that we might better understand His gift of time, and learn that we have a responsibility to make time in our life to teach, to give and to praise.

            Have you ever wondered why you are alive at this particular point in history? Have you given any thought to how much time you have to be alive, and how you are using that time to serve God and promote His Kingdom here on earth? Do you realize you are a steward of the gift of time, which includes both using it wisely (making the most of the time), and not overloading our schedules so that we are both physically and spiritually exhausted (God’s concept of sabbath provides the time to rest and rejuvenate).

            We all get 24 hours per day. We all have only so many years. We all have the same opportunity and responsibility to serve our Lord. As Christians we must always remember that “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24) so that we might “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today” (Hebrews 3:13), living “holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God” (2 Peter 3:11-12), all because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

In His Time,

Denis Whittet