Time is of the Essence

Time is an interesting thing. I can remember moments in my life when it seemed like I had so much spare time that it wasn’t complicated to do all I wanted to do. I could play sports, hunt, fish, play video games, and hang out with people all after my work had been accomplished. It was like there was way more time in the day back then.

I can remember looking at people who were 40 years old. I can remember what it was like to not worry about a mortgage or a car payment or a medical bill. But I can also remember wondering if I— or even the world— would be around long enough for me to see my first child being born. Would I be one of those people that made it to adulthood and got to watch my kids play sports, kill their first deer, and learn how to do everything better than I could?

Now, I spend time both looking back and looking ahead. I recognize that I’ll be one of the lucky ones if I live another 41 years. I recognize that there is a good chance I’ll have less time left to live than the time I’ve already lived. Now I wonder if I will see my kids graduate and get married. Will I get to see my grandkids… or perhaps even my great grandkids grow? I know, that those questions are just as much a mystery as the questions I had early in life.

Time is something created solely for us on this earth. There is not time without the rotation of the earth on its axis and the rotation of the earth around the sun. There are no planets and stars without God speaking them into existence. Time is solely for us, but not another tick of the clock is promised to any one of us. We all have an expiration date that has not yet been announced.

Yet, time is an interesting thing because how we use the time on this earth will determine how we spend a timeless eternity. There will come a day when time will be no more. There will be no night because Jesus will light the streets and the houses and the city of God where we, as His people, will be. That is why there will be no aging or struggling or dying. That is the place I want to spend my eternity. So, I spend my time here doing what I can to follow in the footsteps of the One that paved the way during His very short time on this earth. He left us a path.

I hope and pray that we will all let our choice of eternity determine how we spend our time on earth.

Ben Hayes