About Time

There is one thing we all have in common – Time. Granted, we don’t all live the same exact amount of years and days and months, but we do all share the limitations of 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. Time is that concept in our minds which is based on the observation of the orderliness of God’s creation. In Psalm 90, verses 10, 12, and 14, the author (Moses) makes some interesting points about how we should relate to time.

First we must RECOGNIZE THE TIME. Verse 10 says “ The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
We are finite beings. We may be granted a long life of 70 or 80 years, or we may not! Our lives are relatively brief. We are born, we grow, we learn, we labor, we have times of joy and times of sorrow, but eventually the days come to an end. We, like Moses, should pray that God would “teach us to number our days”!

Secondly, we must REDEEM THE TIME. Look at verse 12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

We, like Moses, should pray that God would “teach us to number our days”! In recognizing that we do only have a finite time in this life we must make the most of it for Christ. Redeeming something means to purchase it. Since you and I can never hope to buy an extra day, how can we “purchase” time? By using what time we have for God’s purposes and with His wisdom. Paul, the Apostle, tells us how in Ephesians 5: 15-19.

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”

Finally, in verse 14 we are reminded to REJOICE THROUGH TIME! ”O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Mercy is a direct result of the Grace and Love of God. It satisfies us, makes us joyful, and makes us inseparable objects of His love.

Romans 8:35-39. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

His Grace helps us be people of Grace as well. Consider the instructions of Jesus:

Luke 6: 27-29 ““But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, “bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. “To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. “

We would all do well to be reminded of the importance of each day that God gives us. I would suggest reading the entire 90th Psalm and consider what God reminds us, About Time.