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.
The antidote for the above philosophy is this: God says in Joel 2:25: "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten--"
Have you ever wasted any minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years that you wish you could get back? I have.
In scripture it was very important to give of their firstfruits. Ex 23:16 "Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field."
I encourage you to give of your firstfruits of time to God. God will impress upon you what time of day He wants you to give to Him--whether early morning, mid-day, or evening. Many heroes of the faith in the Bible gave of their time several times a day. This might be something that you want to consider. For me, it had to be early or I couldn't seem to get it done. Raising three sons, it seemed there were too many interruptions after that to give God His proper time and attention. But this is a very personal decision.
When we are serious about establishing a relationship with Him, He will give us wisdom regarding our time and the choices that we make and I truly believe He will multiply our time back to us in ways that we could never dream of.
He will fine tune all the cogs and dials, the springs and coils to make this happen--after all, He hurled time into this universe thousands of years ago--He who is timeless and has always existed, not only understands it but created it. He will be the mainspring that sets our lives into motion--the orchestrated timepiece it was meant to be.
Who of us will have more time tomorrow than we have today to spend with Him? God says to test Him in our giving. Does that mean just the giving of our money or can we trust that He will pour out the windows of heaven and give us a blessing we cannot contain concerning all of our resources including that of our time?
While researching clocks for this post, I came across this interesting definition of a mainspring on Wikipedia.
A mainspring is a spiral spring of metal ribbon that is the power source in mechanical watches and some clocks. Winding the timepiece, by turning a knob or key, stores energy in the mainspring by twisting the spiral tighter. The force of the mainspring then turns the clock's wheels as it unwinds, until the next winding is needed.
I don't know about you but I need my mainspring wound daily so that I have the spiritual energy to get through each day successfully. So the turning of the knob or key would be synonymous with prayer and connecting with this power source.
You will notice that all of the clocks are set for almost midnight. We still have time to pray for our family, we still have time to pray for our friends, we still have time to pray for our colleagues, we still have time to pray for all the people around the world who do not know this Savior. Let's make these last few minutes count for all eternity.
Lord, let me never resent the time I spend alone with you but rather let me look forward to it with an anxious heart as one who waits for the lover of her soul. Truly, Father, you are the Lover of my Soul, the only one who is totally faithful, totally dependable, totally loving, totally gracious, totally merciful, and totally amazing.
P.S. (I just thought I was through--smile) If you are wondering what to do with this time that you spend with Him, I think the following is a wonderful start. I started doing this several years ago and I can't get enough of the Psalms. I read 5 Psalms a day. On the 23rd day of the month I read Psalm 23, 53, 83, 113, and 143. The pattern is to start with today's date and add 30 to it until you are through the Psalms.
When I was sharing this recently with someone who asked about my Bible study habits, she asked why every 30 and why not 5 in a row? I honestly don't know except I read this somewhere and it works. They just go together. It is amazing how they relate to one another.
Read a line or two and meditate on it. Give it time to sink in and give God time to reveal things in your spirit and to bring thoughts to your mind. Clearing our minds of clutter and sin helps to hear the still, small voice of God. This is prayer--communicating with God. A very simple and easy way to start.
Five Psalms may seem like a lot to you and unmanageable right now. Don't let that discourage you. Start with one chapter or even one scripture. Don't underestimate the power of even one scripture. Hebrews 4:12-13 states, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
Pray for God to bring good literature and people into your life who will help teach you where to go from here.
You will never regret getting started on this prayer journey. And you will find, that as the Bible admonishes us to pray without ceasing, more and more you will be having a running dialogue with Him all day long. I think He likes that. I know I do.
Posted in community with the other sojourners at:
