The Baptist Beacon

TIME

By Sister Terry Collins

Hendersonville, TN

Recently, my husband, Doug was given a beautiful cherry clock in honor of his fifteen years of dedicated service to his employer. This lovely timepiece, with it's golden face and scrolled hands, regally takes it's place on the wall and fulfills its purpose with great regularity (except when we forget to wind it). Alerting us with chimes of the passing of time ringing out when another quarter hour has passed.

Occasionally these chimes come as a welcomed song that I still have enough time left to accomplish the task before me. Sometimes it comes as an alarm that I am going to be late. And at other times the sound of life and laughter drowns out its measured beats that we pay it no heed.

Timepieces become treasured antiques, family heirlooms and things of great value. One day, when Doug and I no longer have need of a clock, our boys will argue over who gets the clock because he "liked it the most." Time is a precious asset of greater value than money.

We measure this thing called time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. Broken down into pieces and segments so we can manage this greatest of all possessions. Even without clocks and calendars to tell us what "time" it is, time goes on.

Time "flies by" or "drags on." We either "don't have enough" or too much that we have "to kill some." Time "marches on" or "stands still." We can "spend it wisely" or "waste it."

No matter what we do with this time we are allotted, one aspect remain true. We cannot make more time. Man has never been able to add hours to the day or days to the year. God set up time and He remains in control. Oh, He lets us choose how we use this time but truly in the end He has all control. When He decides we have had enough, He will snuff out our life's breath and we will enter eternity __ where there is no more time.

But how will we choose to "spend" our time? Dividing this dwindling resource between work, family and other obligations always leaves us with the question of how much time do we give to the Master of time?

Our lack of spending time with our Father causes Him displeasure, but it hinders us more than we realize. Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are Psalm 73:23_28. These tell me that no matter what state I might find myself in that "nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou has holden me by my right hand." We can go for days, possibly weeks without talking to the Father, but it always behooves us to spend time in close fellowship with the Master. "But it is GOOD for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God." Is it "time" to spend "time" with the Master?