You’re On the Clock
Thanks to all my readers who invest their time each week reading my articles. I have written a book containing one hundred of my early newspaper articles entitled The Five-Minute Miracle. The outcome that I’m looking for in my book and these weekly articles is to say a lot in a little. I’m hoping the five minutes you invest in reading these articles will be an inspirational ‘cup of coffee’ or refreshment each week that inspires you and equips you for real life.
To be honest, I’m hoping for more than inspiration. I'm hoping God will use me to write something that will improve your life, perhaps even be a miracle or an ‘Aha' that uplifts your life. That's why we call my book The Five-Minute Miracle.
Our subject today is about time and, hopefully, on time for you. Let's start with some whimsy. It’s called Everything You Need to Know about Life in Three Minutes. I’ll add another two minutes at the end.
God created the dog and said, “Sit by the door of the house and bark at everyone who comes by, and I will give you a twenty-year lifespan.” God created the monkey and said, “Entertain people and do tricks. I’ll give you a ten-year lifespan." Then, God created the cow. "Go out into the field, eat grass, work in the sun, have calves, and support the farmer. I'll give you a forty-year lifespan." Then God created humans and said, “Eat, sleep, play, enjoy life. I’ll give you a twenty-year lifespan.”
But somehow, all these characteristics ended up in reverse order for humans. That's why, in the first twenty years of our lives, we eat, sleep, and play. We work in the sun for the next forty years to support our family. We do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren in the next ten years. For the last twenty years, we sit on our front porch, looked out our house's front window, and bark at everyone who goes by. Now you have life explained to you.
Here is something a bit more serious about investing time meaningfully. An unknown author writes it.
“To realize the value of four years, ask a graduate. To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. Ask the lovers waiting to meet to realize the value of one hour.
To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who just missed an airplane. To realize the value of one second, ask someone who just avoided an accident. To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal at the Olympics. The takeaway here is to treasure every moment you have on this earth. Spend time with your family and friends.
Here are some thoughts about time from others for you to consider. Alice Morse Earle says, “The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.” Art Buchwald says, "Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got." Marty Rubin says, "Time does not pass. It continues." And Harvey MacKay says, "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."
Since we can’t hold time in a bottle, let’s get some wisdom about time. Let’s say you have a rope that is a thousand feet long. The rope represents eternity. God says your life is about one inch of that rope. Your life is a tiny part of a much larger part. So, what we do with our lives now is essential. It determines where we spend eternity. What we do with that one inch is the only time this side of heaven that we can contribute to eternity.
A Psalmist in the Bible describes our days here on earth in this way. “As for the days of our lives, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years. Teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee (God) a heart of wisdom.” Psalms 90: 10, 12.
Our time on earth is important. Use it, but use it wisely. Someone once said, "The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it."
On your mark, get set, and go to something bigger, better, and more significant. You’re on the clock.
Ed Delph/March 4, 2024/CCC