2018-11-21 - Time

The last several months have been sharp reminders of the swift passage of our time on earth. Even though there have been many other instances scattered over the last forty some years, it is even more clear how life gets smaller, and time is an illusion. We often hear the phrase, “no one is promised tomorrow” in reference to living in the moment. A cousin a couple years older than I passed away when I was in Kindergarten, and another about my brother’s age died when I was in second grade, a dear friend passed when I was thirty-two, another passed when I was 40, my Mom died just before the age I am now, a good friend of my step-Dad just passed, and he is about my age, my step-brother passed away this summer, and we were the same age, and last week, a cousin a few months younger than my brother lost his very short battle with cancer. As a child, I seized every second, and was frustrated when hearing the call from home, “time for dinner” if in the middle of bike riding or playing kickball of whiffle ball out front. When we had kids, I lived in the moment with them, and had a great time herding them and our tiny dachshunds throughout their days. Life in chaos was a joyful book of treasured moments. So much of being a grownup can take us off the path of being in the moment. And instead trying to make time for stuff, often only stealing the now we have. Sure, we must do some planning and housekeeping items - literally and physically. However, our lives can be more fulfilling, as we stay connected to being in the moment, so then enjoying each aspect of it, as gifted to us. God did not promise each person to have the same or even similar length of life, yet when I look at the verses in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, and think about each of the losses mentioned above, I am quite certain that each of them contained the content of what is to be in the time we have in our season under heaven. The song “Time Stand Still” (lyrics below) struck me as a fond reminder of what we can do with those moments. We cannot make time stand still, nor do I believe they were suggesting we could, yet being conscious of giving our all where we are, and who we are with right now, could keep us from regret, later, of what we missed. Instead, embracing time can then give us vivid memories of laughter that followed mourning; peace that followed war; love that followed hate, gathering where once scattered, and so on. I recall being twelve, and for the first time, seeing overwhelming sorrow in my Mom’s face when her best friend died. More recently, I noted seeing bursting joy on her face, in pictures of her interacting with my bother and me as kids. Seeing it come full circle fulfills my soul, with two thoughts. One is that picture of how God feels for us, each time we have sorrow, as well as joy. The other is how, when it is our appointed time comes to die from the flesh, we have, in fact, lived. “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.” (Hebrews 5:11-13 NIV) “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV) “do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,” (Hebrews 3:8 NIV) “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll– I have come to do your will, my God.” First, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”–though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”” (Hebrews 10:5-18 NIV) “There is a time for everything,   and a season for every activity under the heavens:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,  a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,  a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)

“Time Stand Still” (Partial)Lyrics to the song by: Rush (Songwriters: Alex Zivojinovich / Gary Lee Weinrib / Neil Elwood Peart Time Stand Still lyrics © Ole Media Management I let my past go too fast No time to pause If I could slow it all down Like some captain, Whose ship runs aground I can wait until the tide comes around Time stand still I'm not looking back But I want to look around me now Time stands still See more of the people And the places that surround me now Freeze this moment A little bit longer Make each sensation A little bit stronger Make each impression A little bit stronger Freeze this motion A little bit longer The innocence slips away The innocence slips away Time stands still Time stands still I'm not looking back But I want to look around me now See more of the people And the places that surround me now Time stands still

All scripture references from KJV (King James Version) unless otherwise noted

cfpraydeb@gmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org