This was brought up during the sermon on Sunday and it got me thinking. What if we were only guaranteed our next allotment of 1,440 minutes if the previous ones were all used, and used wisely? I'd have to say there would be an extreme drop in the population. So why would we spend the entirety of the money without a second thought, but not use each minute we are given?
We pack our day as full as we possibly can, but why? How much of that time do we use in giving back to the One who gave us everything? Time is a strange thing. We can find ways to make things take less time. We can manufacture tools and devices to help us accomplish more in less time. But there is nothing we can do to manipulate or take control of time itself. It moves on at the same rate of speed it always has, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. The highway of time has no rest stops, only non-returnable exits. David teaches us this in Psalms 39:4–5, Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. James says something similar: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Paul cautions us in Ephesians 5:15–16, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
When it comes to my time, I don’t want any regrets. I never want to say “if-only.” I don't want to take my time for granted and assume it’s an endless supply. Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long. Every minute counts. Oh, to be a faithful steward of the breath God has given me.
Time really is like money, it’s something God gives us to steward. We can invest in things that produce an eternal dividend or in things that end in bankruptcy. The question here is, how are we investing the little time we have? Is it filled with an endless stream of activities to fill up the minutes? Is it used up by numbing entertainment so we can get other things done? When our time is almost over, will we look back and wish we had used our time differently? I don't want to have any regrets.
If you made a pie chart of how you use your time, how much of it is invested in the eternal souls of your family, friends, and strangers alike? Does the time spent in mindless activities grossly outweigh the time spent in pointing them to Jesus? Are you spending more time watching them from the sidelines than you are sitting beside them with the gospel on your lips? We can often be distracted by the details of life and miss the numerous opportunities to instruct others in the gospel. Pray that God would give you a ready awareness of those moments. Be willing to set aside other tasks to invest in other's hearts.
Time is a vapor. Blink once and it’s gone. We all have a responsibility to steward and invest the time God gives us in things that produce lasting and eternal dividends. Let’s use the precious and limited time we have with peope by investing in their hearts. Life is short. By God’s grace, don’t waste it.
