Title: Let's make precious time worthwhile
Let's make precious time worthwhile
Text: Psalm 84:10
“Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; it is better to be a gatekeeper to my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
“Walk wisely toward strangers, saving time” (Colossians 4:5).
According to renowned psychologist and sociologist Mihai Csikszentmihaly, each day we spend is made up of a third of what we like to do, what we must do, and what we do not like. This ratio varies slightly depending on a person's gender, age, and occupation, but it is said that there is no case in which the ratio changes significantly in terms of the whole life.
Of the three, people are most satisfied when they do voluntary work, but they are not dissatisfied with what they do because of a sense of duty. In the end, it means that how happy a person's life can be depends on whether the remaining one-third of the time is used for the work that must be done or the work that is not enough.
“There is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Death row inmates Bell and Jacob, serving their sentences at Sing Sing Prison in New York, USA, demanded that a clock be hung in their room just days before their execution. When the jailer asked why the watch was needed, the prisoners said, "The execution will be carried out in a few days."
“I want to know exactly how much time we have left. Although we are on death row, we do not want to waste any of our remaining time.”
Queen Elizabeth of England, before her death, said:
“If I could live one more moment, I would give my all!”
To the soon-to-be death row inmate, to the queen who had it all, time was equally precious and inevitable. Time is a precious thing that, once passed, never comes back! Where are you using that time? Life is too short to love each other. Use your time to fear God and love one another.
A day is meaningful to those who live by pondering how to use the same time as life that contains life. Those little dots come together to draw a part of your life curve. How you spend your day determines the overall direction of your life. Let's have the wisdom to use the time of the day wisely without sparing a sweat.
“For a thousand years are in your sight as yesterday, and as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4).
24 hours a day is given equally to everyone. However, depending on how you use this time, it may be 20 hours or 30 hours. For example, suppose there are two young men on a train from Mokpo to Seoul. Let's say a young man is on his way to meet his lover, and the other young man is enlisting in the military.
For the former, a six-hour train ride feels long, but for the latter, it will feel very short. In this way, people can do a lot of creative things or just waste it, using even a short amount of time effectively, depending on their mindset.
The poet in this passage also confesses that it is better to spend a day with God than to spend a thousand days in sin. Even a life of possessing everything in sin cannot be compared to living with God.
Jim Elliot, who became the foundation for the mission of the cannibal Auca tribe, left these prayers in his old notebook. ‘Ignite my life like a lazy, dry stick and let it burn for you. I don't want a long life. I just want to live a life full of life like Jesus.’
Time cannot be bought with money, time cannot be saved, no one can hold on to it, no one can lend or borrow it. We must keep in mind that time can be wasted, but it can never be reversed. A wise man grieves the most in vain (Proverbs 6:10-11).
The life given to us is at most 80 years. Time is a fraction of these 80 years. Therefore, ‘time is life.’ How are you using this precious time? And how are you going to use the remaining time? Life is not an exercise. We must live each moment to the fullest. (Ephesians 5:16)
Saints! Depending on how we manage our time, we can be either wise or foolish before God. God wants the saints to spare the time given to them, abide in righteousness according to God's will, and manage them wisely. Especially, because our life is finite and short, this age is an evil generation, and because each person must have an account of the time given to them, Christians should not waste their time in vain. Now, let us become saints who use the precious time that is given more wisely and correctly for the expansion of the kingdom of God and the spread of the gospel for the salvation of souls.
* Prayer: Almighty Heavenly Father, help us realize the finiteness of time and use it wisely. Don't waste the time you have given me foolishly, but give me the wisdom to save it and use it worthy of it for your sake. Please make good use of the time you have been given. May each day be spent faithfully and the sweat you sowed will turn into beautiful fruit. Let me walk with you, even for a short time, and live a life dedicated to you. In the name of our Savior Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, we pray. Amen
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