“How about if I take the boys out this
morning,
and give you some time to do whatever you'd like?”
So went
Heather’s question to me regarding the upcoming Saturday morning. What a
wonderful gift she was offering to me as a busy dad, husband, worker, etc – the
gift of some time to do whatever.
Time is an important commodity in our
culture. As Michael LeBoeuf, American business guru quipped, “Waste your money
and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of
your life.” So when Heather asked me that question, it was a no-brainer. Why would I not gratefully receive such a gift from her?
The
question I then face is “How would I ‘spend’ that Saturday morning gift,
that
commodity that was now in my piggy bank?
Time is a commodity only because of
our limitations as part of God’s creation. We can try to manage it and make the
most of it, but ultimately, we are prisoners bound by and within time. We can
do nothing to make it stop, slow it down, manipulate it. Time moves ahead minute-by-minute and we are helplessly carried along in it’s
current.
While we are very aware of our
limitations regarding time,
we must remember that God is not.
Time is the very
thing that he created so his redemptive purposes can be carried out. As
time rolls along, he actively presents us with opportunities to be
transformed into a clearer and cleaner reflection of his image.
So back to my question of how I would
spend a half-day of time that is given to me. What would bring me the most joy
and recharge my batteries? I have several ideas running through my head that I
get pretty excited about.
How would you spend such a gift?
When given a block
of time like this, we shouldn't feel guilty about doing something we really
enjoy, whether creative, productive, or simply taking a nap.
God loves seeing us soak up such moments!
But wouldn’t it be a great idea to
check in with God and ask him what would be best?
After all he knows each of us
intimately. A quick prayer might be, “God, you know me, all my needs and
wants. Here’s what I think I should do, but what do you think is the best way
for me to use this gift of time?” And why not bring that kind of question to
him everyday? This seems to be what the psalmist expressed in Psalm 90:12,
“Teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.”
We may see time as a limitation, but
we can also see it as the means by which God carries out his plan. To that end,
it is a gift from God. Recording artist, Charlie Peacock, captured this idea
well in the first stanza of his song “The Secret of Time”:
Time is a gift of love and grace;
Without time, there’d be no time to
change,
Time to be healed, humbled, and broken,
Time to hear the words of love spoken.
