If you knew you were going to die tonight, would that cause you to change your use of time today? Most of us would have to say, "Yes, it would." John Krahn had a friend, named Art, whose doctor diagnosed him as having a terminal illness that would claim his life within a year. After a month, the doctor discovered he was mistaken and told Art that his condition was not terminal after all. As Art reflected on the month he had spent under this mistaken death sentence, he acknowledged the negative, painful emotions he had experienced. But there were also some very positive emotions. "I began to see the beauty of God''s creation the way I hadn't seen it before," he said. "With the length of my life limited, I began to make the most of every moment." Making the most of every moment is being a good steward of time.
Being a good steward of time doesn't mean you have to be always working or doing what we normally think are religious things. Jesus did not see life like that at all. Good stewardship of time does mean, in Paul''s words, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
There are two primary words for time in the New Testament. One is Chronos which refers to the ticking off of the hours, days, years, the turn of the seasons. The other is Kairos which refers to the special times when God acts decisively or presents us with a special opportunity. Those special circumstances have great meaning for us.
This morning we want to look at some Biblical truths that can help us be better stewards of our time. One is this: TIME IS GOD''S GOOD GIFT TO BE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED AND ENJOYED.
What a wonderful gift time is. It has been called the substance of life and our most precious asset. It is an opportunity for growing, loving and finding fulfillment and joy. Erma Bombeck once wrote a column chiding a mother for scolding her son during a worship service. The mother had said to her boy, "Stop that grinning. You are at church." But what better time to smile or grin or laugh than when we have gathered with others to worship the God of all joy! The Psalmist had the spirit we could all use when he declared, "This is the day the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it," just to say that each day will open the door of our hearts to gratitude.
Time is God''s impartial and generous gift to all. We all have the same amount each day. Every minute has 60 seconds, each hour 60 minutes, each day 24 hours. No one is slighted. We pride ourselves on being busy people. We say, or we hear others say frequently, "I don''t have time to do this or that." But we always have time for the things that are most important to us. The struggle we all face is how to allocate or parcel out our time. Time is God''s gift entrusted to our stewardship. We need to pray daily the great prayer of the Psalmist, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)"Lord, make me to know mine end and the meaning of my days, what it is." (Psalm 39:4)
Another Bible truth about time is this: TIME IS A LIMITED OPPORTUNITY TO BE USED WISELY.
Time''s limited nature is a sobering thought. James said, "Come now, you who say, `Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend the year there and trade and get gain,'' whereas you do not know tomorrow, what is your life, for you are as mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, `If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.''" The Bible also speaks of our lives as flowers that bloom quickly and wither as grass, the grass that springs up and quickly dies away. We should never presume upon time, yet we all do.
An unknown war correspondent observed this tragedy of squandering our lives and time when he wrote, "Some men die of shrapnel, some go down in flames, but most men perish inch by inch, who play at little games." Have you ever asked yourself, "What time is it in my life?" Take stock of your life in relation to time, using this measure someone devised. Assume you live to be eighty. Then the various ages you will reach can be compared to the hours of the day that begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. If you are ten years old, it is 8 a.m. and breakfast is over; if twenty, it is 10 a.m.; if thirty, 12 noon; if forty, 2 p.m. and lunch is over; if fifty, 4 p.m.; if sixty, 6 p.m.; if seventy, 8 p.m. and supper is over; if 80, 10 p.m. and the time is approaching to end the day.
Time is to be used wisely if God is to be glorified. Because each day brings us nearer to heaven, Paul urges Christians, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." Because of the shortness of time and the terrible consequences evil can bring, God''s people need to understand and live out His will for life as they find it in His word. But many don''t. We don''t use time wisely.
We misuse time when we procrastinate or put off doing what we know we could or should be doing now. Newspaper columnist James Dent made a list of some of the popular light bulb jokes. Some I like particularly.
How many bureaucrats does it take to change a light bulb?...One, but he''ll need to hire two outside consultants to help.
How many county commissioners?...Two. One to screw it in and one to screw it up.
And how many procrastinators?...One but he has to wait until the light is better.
Professor Harold Hill, in the lively musical THE MUSIC MAN, has a classic challenge to procrastination. He invites River City''s piano teacher to come on a summer picnic with him. She secretly wants to, but hesitates, and then decides not to go for fear that it might be improper. She says, "Not today, but maybe tomorrow." Professor Hill''s reply is a blow to all our efforts at putting off until tomorrow what we should do today. "If we are not careful," he says, "we''ll pile up so many tomorrows that all we have left is a bundle of empty yesterdays. Let''s make today something to last forever."
Jesus reminds us, as does James, that tomorrow is uncertain: "Whereas you do not know about tomorrow." We can live under the illusion that there''s a golden age somewhere out beyond where we are today. As we dream of that, we let great experiences pass us by today. Now is the time to live, to love, to laugh and to serve God and humanity.
A proverb from the Indian Sanskrit has great truth for us: "Yesterday is but a dream; tomorrow only a vision; but today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope."
We misuse time when we waste it--either our time or others. One of the greatest wastes of time is being late. Many people feel that it is very important to tell the truth, to be honest, to be just in their handling of money and paying their bills and taxes. But they overlook completely the careful use of time. It does make a difference whether you get to school or to work on time. If folks straggle in five or fifteen minutes, or even a half-hour late at work, or leave an hour early, then the business could lose money and ultimately they could lose their jobs. If it were a school, pupils would lose a lot of their education. Does it make a difference if we are ten or fifteen minutes late for a church or committee meeting? It may not seem as important because the future of a business or a job doesn't seem to hinge on our promptness, but it does make a difference. We cheat ourselves out of some blessings. We also inconvenience others who are on time. We rob them as well as ourselves of precious moments as they sit waiting. It also makes a difference because we are building a lifestyle of casualness that will have other consequences later for us and for the Kingdom of God.
We can''t save time or bank it like money. We may use money and replace it. We can''t replace time. God calls us to make the most of time. If we want to honor Him with our time, there are some ways we can do that. An unknown writer suggests we can use time to think, work, play, read, love and be loved, to laugh, to give, to pray and to worship. Each day we should seek to do good to at least one person and to enjoy the beauty of the created world and to bear witness to our faith. Our best use of time is to help others to know the saving love of Christ.
One other truth can help us be better stewards. TIME IS BUT A PRELUDE TO ETERNITY.
The WALL STREET JOURNAL had a column recently on how we waste much of our lives dreaming about an ideal situation that is never realized. In middle age, some people still fantasize about what they''ll do when they grow up.
Most people between 35 and 44 continue to daydream about their careers: to anticipate a job change, compensate for something missing, or escape from day-to-day tedium. But Judith Meyerowitz, in a doctoral dissertation at Columbia''s teacher college, says something seems to happen at age 45. About that age people shift from daydreaming about their current jobs to fantasizing about what they will do in the future--when things are better.
Early in their careers, men particularly dream of control, pay, and recognition. By 45, these daydreams turn to personal expression, even aesthetics. Women, too, look inward as they grow older. But as men enter late middle age they seem to fantasize more about a less complex life. They start thinking about retiring. Meanwhile women of the same age talk more about such things as owning their own business as a way to assert themselves. No wonder so many middle-aged marriages are troubled. Men are ready to settle down just as women begin getting adventurous.
Most fantasies are realistic, however, according to this study. Still, one librarian dreams of playing shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jesus said, "This is life eternal. To know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Time is but a prelude to eternity. Eventually we run out of tomorrows. Unless--unless we have built our lives on the solid rock of Christ''s love for us. Eternal life becomes ours now when we turn our lives over to God through Christ. No time is wasted when that happens. We fulfill God''s purposes for us when in the words of that great hymn, we "walk with the Lord in the light of His word, and trust and obey." In return God asks of us only what He knows we have the ability and time to do. All He asks is that we love Him with all of our hearts and give ourselves to His service. We are to love our neighbors, and worship with, fellowship with, and serve with the people of God.
Let no one say, "I don''t have time to serve God because my home life or my job or some other thing keeps me from it." We serve God by being the best parent or worker or by doing our duty so as to bring glory to Him; and if our lives are so busy we can''t find at least one time out of the week to gather with God''s people for mutual up-building and corporate worship, then our lives are too busy and need to be changed. An old saying puts it well. These few words have great import and help us consider the relation of our use of time and eternity. It says, "One life to live, one death to die, one account to give." If we are good stewards of our time, we can look forward to that day of accounting. We can anticipate a home in Glory. We can look forward to hearing the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy lord."