Can’t Save the Past or Grasp the Future – Now’s All We Have

Alistair Begg is one of my favorite radio preachers. His winsome Scottish brogue remains with him despite many years of living in the U.S.A. But what appeals to me most is his ability to convey biblical truth in common, everyday ways that make you want to respond, ‘Oh yeah. I get it!’

 

On a recent program he posed an intriguing scenario. Every morning you have $86,400 deposited in your bank account. You can use the money in any way you wish. But at the end of the day, whatever remains is wiped out. Until the next morning, when another $86,400 is deposited in your account with the same stipulation. Whatever’s left at day’s end is removed. Then the cycle resumes the next morning, for your entire lifetime. You can’t save any of it for the future. You have to use it each day when you receive it.

 

Our first reaction is probably something like, ‘Wow! I’ll take it.’ Or for some of us, ‘That’s more money than I earn in a full year! Sign me up!’

 

Of course, pastor Begg was using that only as an illustration. He explained: Each day we’re entrusted with 86,400. But it’s not dollars, it’s seconds – the number we have in every 24-hour day. In a sense, we get a daily deposit of 86,400 seconds into our time account to use as we see fit. We can’t carry over any from yesterday and can’t borrow from the future or save any of it for later use.

 

A common response is, “Well, there’s always tomorrow.” And that’s not necessarily bad. Many times, if we can’t complete a project or a task, it can be carried over to another day. Sometimes – as I’ve learned about writing – it’s actually better to set something aside, let it “percolate” for a while, even a day or more, and return to it later.

 

Then there are people so driven that they’re perpetually burning both ends of the proverbial candle, oblivious to the reality that eventually they’ll reach the middle with no candle left. But I think what Begg was getting at wasn’t resolving to fill every waking moment with activity and energy expenditure. Rather, it’s about recognizing each new day is a gift from God and we’d be wise to spend – actually, invest – the seconds, minutes and hours at our disposal in worthwhile pursuits. Especially if they can contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

 

In Ephesians 5:15-16, the apostle Paul speaks about this directly: “Pay careful attending, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” Reading in The Amplified Bible, we find a helpful elaboration: “making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.”

 

This doesn’t mean time itself is inherently evil. But perhaps in this age more than ever, it’s so easy to get distracted or sidetracked from things we desire to do or know we should be doing. Not necessarily bad things, but not the best things. As the Latin adage states, “Tempus fugit” – time flies.

 

Careless use – even misuse, or abuse – of time can result in missing out on a number of things. These could include valued interactions with family members, friends, neighbors, and colleagues at work; getting started on a project that’s been put off for too long; pausing to appreciate and explore some of God’s creation; reading an inspiring book; speaking a friendly, encouraging word to an absolute stranger; and spending much-needed moments with the Lord, reading the Scriptures and praying.

 

Rather than engaging in frenetic, non-stop activity, “redeeming the time” concerns the wise use of the minutes and hours at our disposal. This could even involve a timely nap, because we all function better when we’re rested. But it also includes keeping our spiritual antennae up, seeking to be sensitive to God’s “divine appointments.”

 

As Colossians 4:5-6 admonishes us to, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” I’m as bad as anyone at keeping my head and eyes down, focused on whatever I’m doing, failing to recognize opportunities to be a blessing for others.

 

The Scriptures teach we’re to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), making ourselves available to the Lord to be used as He directs, not only to nonbelievers who need to hear about Him but also to those who are already members of His eternal family. 

 

For instance, in Galatians 6:9-10 the apostle Paul offers this encouragement: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.”

So, how are you doing in utilizing your 86,400 today? What are your plans for using the rest of it? Lord willing, you’ll receive another 86,400 tomorrow. But how you use your allotment this day could make a great difference in the opportunities you’ll have the next. We don’t want our epitaph to be, “There’s lots I woulda, shoulda, and coulda done.” 

Taking a Brief Look at Life’s Brevity

One of the wonders of the English language is how a single word can take on a variety of meanings. Take the word love for example: We can love a spouse, child, friend, job, sports team, a vacation spot, TV show, car, God, and a host of other things – and in each case, mean something different.

 

Another of those “multi-meaning” words is the word brief. An attorney can compile a legal brief that is anything but brief. We might stop by a friend or relative’s home for a brief visit, which could mean a few minutes or a couple hours. If someone needs to tell us something important, they might preface with the words, “I’ll be brief.” When making a choice of men’s underwear, the option is “boxers or…briefs.” 

 

And then there’s “brief” in terms of the perspective we might have on life, whether it’s our own or someone else’s. An advantage – or liability, depending on how you look at it – of advancing into adult years is an appreciation of how brief earthly life really is. When we’re young, as adolescents or teens, senior adulthood seems like an eternity away. Then one day we realize how quickly years have passed.

 

Looking back, we might marvel at how much of our lives we’ve spent on frivolous pursuits – hours, days and years that are gone forever, never to be recaptured. Perhaps this is one reason King David of Israel wrote so eloquently, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath…” (Psalm 39:4-6).

 

Does this sound pessimistic? Perhaps, but I’m more inclined to regard it as realistic. As we get older, the years which once seemed to pass so slowly begin picking up pace, a year seeming to conclude almost as soon as it started.

 

Reading the early chapters of Genesis, we see that in the first human generations, people’s lives amazingly spanned centuries. Adam, we’re told, lived to be 930. His son, Seth, lived to the ripe old age of 912. Other men with names like Enosh, Kenan, Mahalelel and Jared each lived well beyond 900 years. Methuselah was the oldest of them all, dying when he was 969 years old, according to the Scriptures.

 

Can you imagine having been born in, say, the year 1096 and still being alive today? Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Alas, folks today don’t live nearly that long; we might not want to even if we could. More people do seem to be living past 100 these days, but that’s still a mere fraction of the lifespans of the earliest Genesis generations. Sooner or later, our earthly tenure will come to an end.

 

Which brings us back to David’s solemn petition: “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end…how fleeting is my life…. Each man’s life is but a breath….” If that’s true, in light of the whole scheme of time, space and eternity, how should we respond? 

 

Basically we have two options: We can take a fatalistic approach, echoing the writer of Ecclesiastes, assumed by most to be King Solomon of Israel, who suggested, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him – for this is his lot” (Ecclesiastes 5:18). 

 

Or we can strive to identify our strengths and gifts, seeking to maximize them for the benefit of those we love, as well as those we encounter from day to day, and doing what we can to advance the cause of Jesus Christ for as long as God enables us. 

The apostle Paul exhorted first-century believers, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise by as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). This continues to be excellent advice for all who follow Christ in the 21^st century. “Tempus fugit,” as the Romans used to say – “Time flies.” It’s brief. We’d be wise to invest it, capitalizing on every opportunity that presents itself. 

Not a Matter of Time

We are creatures – and captives – of time. Despite being admonished to “live in the moment,” we have the irresistible habit of gazing back at the past or looking toward the future. We think of things we’ve done or that have happened in terms of “an hour ago,” “yesterday,” “last week,” or years, even centuries ago. Or we make plans for tomorrow, next week, next year, and so on.

“Tempus fugit,” the Latin tells us – time flies. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to live in the present, because “now” is so fleeting, so…momentary. Here and gone, in the blink of an eye. So it gets little respect.

So we nurture an irrepressible fascination with time. Some people, particularly “older generation” types, feel naked without watches fastened around their wrists. Younger people are more prone to use their smartphones as timepieces. After all, they’re more accurate, right? Either way, we’re stuck in time, governed by clocks and calendars. Whether it’s getting prepared for an upcoming meeting, anticipating what we’ll do Friday night to celebrate the end of another workweek, or planning how we’ll spend an upcoming vacation, time can be our friend – and sometimes our enemy.

So I found it interesting to see this time fixation manifested in a brief Facebook exchange. A friend posted a quote from the end of the last New Testament book, Revelation, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

Reading this post, someone asked, “Define 'soon.' This was written umpteen thousand years ago!” Frankly, that’s a great question – exactly what did Jesus mean by “soon”? Several verses in Revelation quote Him saying, “I am coming soon” or “the time is near.” This was written nearly 2,000 years ago, so what’s the hold-up?

Numerous other passages make similar declarations. For instance, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, “…the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” And 2 Peter 3:10 concurs, declaring almost verbatim, “…the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” But here we are in 2014, many centuries later, so obviously these statements are baloney, right? Slow-moving “thief” maybe?

Years ago a friend advised me the best method for interpreting the Scriptures is by using other Scriptures. I’ve found this excellent counsel. So what does the Bible say about God’s time orientation?

One critical verse is 2 Peter 3:8 which declares, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” The next verse adds, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

To me this states us that, unlike us, God doesn't operate according to timepieces or 12-month calendars. At the same time (no pun intended), this doesn’t mean one 24-hour day to Him is exactly 1,000 years. It’s a metaphorical statement, declaring God operates outside of time and can take as much “time” as desired to accomplish His purposes.

This understanding could apply to the six days of creation – a half-dozen literal, 24-hour days? – as well as Jesus’ imminent return. Not being required to punch a time clock or meet someone else’s deadline, God has the prerogative to take as long as He chooses to get any job done. In the 1980s, the Ford Motor Company operated by the slogan, “Quality is Job 1.” With God, through time and eternity, that has always been His motto. In other words, He simply takes as long as it takes to do it right.

God alone truly has all the time in the world. In fact, He has all the time in the universe! And more than that. Much more.