LSEM > Devotions > Time of Your Life

Time of Your Life

  • September 1, 2021
  • Posted by: Carolyn Mahal
  • Category: Devotions
No Comments

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” – 2 Peter 3:8-18

There are many things about God that we as His creation cannot understand.  We may be extremely complex beings, but in comparison to our God, we are extremely simple beings. This difference limits our ability to wrap our human minds around the fullness of God’s majesty.

One of the things that we struggle to comprehend is the difference between the way we view time in comparison to how God views it. As humans living our earth, we are bound by time.  Our physical, earthly lives started at conception, and they will come to an end at the moment of our death.  All of the minutes in between are measured, regimented, and metered out to provide equal balance to those things that are priorities and responsibilities.  We make time to do the things that are important to us.  We spend more time with the people we love.  We spend less time doing things we dislike.  We also work very hard to protect our time.  Nobody wants to see their time wasted, lost on unproductive things because we understand that every minute that passes is a minute we will never get back.

Now, contrast that with God’s perspective on time. God is eternal. He has always been and He always will be. That alone suggests that He doesn’t spend His days watching the clock or updating His calendar.  This isn’t to say that God is ignorant of time. He is just not controlled by it.  While we recognize that God is not consumed with time, His love for us still leads Him to provide for us what we need at the proper time (as defined by Him, not us).

So how should we, as Christians, approach living in a world driven by time?  I’d like to think that we should live each day by being in the moment, appreciating the blessings that God is providing to us while keeping our eyes open to opportunities to share the gospel and serve others. We can plan ahead, but we should avoid worrying about lost time or obsessing over contingencies of what might happen. Consider the words of Jesus as He asks us in Matthew 6:27, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  He continues in verses 33-34 by reminding us to: “seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Making the most of every moment is a popular sentiment, but in truth, it’s also the best way to live in fullness of the love and grace of God.  We can do nothing to change what is coming tomorrow, so why waste time today worrying about it?  We cannot change yesterday, so why lose more time today by dwelling on it?  Live now surrounded by the peace that can only come from our heavenly Father. Receive forgiveness from your sins through the redemptive work of Christ. Address the negatives in your life by bringing them to God who has promised to hear our prayers and deliver us from the traps of this world. This will allow us to focus on the positives in our lives and know the joy that comes from living in the moment with Creator of the universe.

May God surround you with this peace here on earth until He calls us to our timeless, heavenly home.

 

Devotion by Richard Schumacher

LSEM Director of Programs & Services