Time is of the Essence

November came, November went. And while time does usually consistently fly by, November flew a little faster. This is evident in the fact that I did not blog at ALL in November! YIKES.



Time is quite the trickster, isn't it? Sand held slipping through desperate, angry fists.



It never ceases to amaze me to see my own lack of time management. It never ceases to amaze me to see it in others. The manifestations are all around- someone flying in their car to get to work on time, driving recklessly without any concern for the little children in the car in front of them or even the little children in their own backseat. Maybe if the driver had gotten up 10 minutes earlier instead of hitting snooze the roads would be a little safer.



We all just must make time for our TV shows, but those half hours and hours turn into days and weeks and suddenly relationships are a little weaker and priorities are ignored.



To-do lists are left undone, and usually the more important things on the lists are the ones left. Some important things never even make the list.



Charles Hummel talks about the "tyranny of the urgent". He states, "We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that the important tasks rarely must be done today or even this week. But the urgent tasks call for instant action- endless demands pressure every hour and day."



And so we go through the same monotonous motions again and again... the car needs gas, bills need paid, groceries bought, the house cleaned, dinner cooked, car oil changed, laundry washed, grass mowed....



And we get nowhere. A vicious hamster wheel indeed. But what to do? How can we ignore these things? We can't just not pay the bills, live in a pig pen and have a field in our front yard.



God knew the battle we would have with time. Of course, He knows everything; but I'm so glad He specifically speaks to us on this issue of time.



"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" ~James 4:13-15

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." ~Proverbs 27:1

"Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.' And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'" ~Luke 12:18-20

"Remember that my life is but a breath." ~Job 7:7

"Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow." ~Psalm 144:4

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." ~Col. 3:2

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it." ~Psalm 37:5

So yes, time flies. It is intended to do just that. Your life is but a vapor, a breath. It's your responsibility to seize it and make good use of it. To do that, you need to be about your "todays" and not your "tomorrows". But ultimately, you need to be about your eternity.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Matthew 6:19-21