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Reverend William Thomas |
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| Passing time a gift to used wisely |
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| By William Thomas, Religion Columnist |
Friday, October 09, 2009 |
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I looked at the tiny bundle in my arms named Emma Lin Hughes. She’s my first grandchild. When I gazed into her angelic face, I was instantly transported back in time when I held her mother in my arms for the first time. Emma even looks like her mom did so many years ago. Awed by her delicate features, I held her close and wondered, “Where did all the years go?”
One moment my daughter was a newborn in my arms. In the blink of an eye, I’m walking her down a church aisle to give her away in marriage. Blink again and she’s a mother. I look at our aged photo albums, and I’m stunned at how fast the years have flown by.
Someone coined the statement, “Time marches on.” When I look in the mirror, I agree. It’s marching across my face, leaving spots and wrinkles. Time can be an elusive concept to grasp. Though we may feel like we have all the time in the world, we don’t. We’re bound by time. No one gets more than 24 hours in a day. No one is exempt from aging. No one has a body that will last forever.
David felt the constraints of time when he wrote, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away” (Psalm 39:4).
It’s that concept that gripped my heart as I held little Emma. How many special never-will-happen-again moments did I miss in my children’s lives because I was so preoccupied with “more important things?” How many opportunities did I miss to make a difference in people’s lives because I was too busy and didn’t have time to get involved? How much time have I squandered and wasted over the decades of my life?
In Psalm 90:12, Moses asks God, “Teach us to make the most of our time … .” Moses understood that our time is both limited and very precious. In fact, time may be the greatest asset we have. Time trumps all the gold, silver and riches any person could amass for himself. Time is extremely valuable. Once you spend it, it’s gone forever. You can’t go back and reclaim it to use differently. You can’t save it in an account for future use. No one on their deathbed wants to see their final bank records to determine their financial worth. What people desire most at that moment is more time.
God wants us to live valuing the time he has given us as a gift to be used wisely and purposefully. If you have yielded your life to Jesus Christ, when you die, you will live with God forever in eternity. Time won’t matter then.
But while we walk this planet, the best use of our time is investing it in both knowing God personally and in the lives of people by sharing his incredible love.
The Rev. William Thomas is pastor at Sonrise Community Church in Westminster. He can be reached at sonrisecommunitychurch@comcast.net.
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