If I Could Put Time in a Bottle

"Trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

God created time. Though it sometimes seems as if our calendars, mobile devices, and alarm clocks do, it is actually God who controls time. All those tools can do is measure the time as it passes.

God created time and he uses it to direct and guide us into walking with Him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). While we tend to think in terms of days or  weeks, God wants us to get our eyes on eternity.

Speaking of time, where does God want us to be in 10 years? We won't be able to name a city, state, and country, but there are things we can be sure of.  He wants us to be further from the devil and nearer to Him in 10 years than we are today (James 4:7-8). What should our priorities be if we want to get to where God wants us to go? Getting there is about making the "small" right choices that get us closer by the day. The road to heaven isn't paved with big events or programs, but with humility and service to our loving God.

Time is just a temporary tool God is using to bring us into eternity. What if you only have ten years to live? Would you set your priorities differently? But here's the tough question: What stops you from setting them like that now?

Time moves faster than we think. When I married my Jamie almost 13 years ago, I thought, “Wow, how am i already old enough to get married? Where does the time go?” And now, in what seems like only a passing moment, we have a 6 and a 3 year old.

So, what will you do with the rest of the time that God gives you with your family?

What about the time He is giving you to serve Him?

----Darrell Powell

Before the Sun Sets

We don't enjoy thinking about physical death.  And we all deal with things in our own ways.  Some use humor, while others refuse to address the topic at all.  I guess one of the best parts of being a Christian the hope that death isn't the end...in fact, it's the beginning of something better.  Like Paul wrote, “to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).  And if we are walking in the light, then “to die is gain.”  The most beautiful sunset isn't just one that is pleasing to the eyes.  A sunset that marks the end of a day spent giving your all, now that's something to celebrate.  What will you do before the sun sets for the last time on your life? 

            Moses said it right, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalms 90:10).  Time is precious, partly because none of us knows how much we have left.  But we were never meant to live here eternally.  “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  So, we ought to live our lives with the attitude that, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15). 

            One sure thing about life is that it will end, so, why place hope and trust in anything in this world?  Where are you storing up your treasures? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20). 

            Hope.  Do you have it?  Christians can take comfort in these words: “…Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" (Revelation 14:13). 

----Darrell Powell