Have you got the time?

The Bible says: 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 weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance… a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak… a time for war and a time for peace. (And many other things, listed in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1-8.)

Time surrounds us like a river: we plunge into it when we are born and are swept along.  Sometimes the current flows more quickly than we would like – dragging us from one thing to the next.  At other times we might rest in a gentle pool, enjoying the moment, before being swept along again.  But the river never flows backwards, no matter how hard we try to swim against it.

Time flies when you’re having fun, or can drag when you’re listening to a sermon!  It has the power to heal and yet can also be our greatest enemy.  We’ve invested much in ‘time-saving’ devices, and yet it seems we’ve never been so busy!  “I don’t know where the time goes!”  “If only there were more hours in the day!”  Many live by the motto “time is money”, when perhaps we should say “time is priceless”.  Time is possibly the most valuable of all God’s natural gifts to us, and yet the one we waste most easily.  Sadly, it’s often only when our time is cut short that we truly appreciate the gift that we had.

This famous passage from Ecclesiastes says that God has given us time for everything necessary.  Some we might not want to do (“a time to kill”, for example!), but generally these things make up life in all its fullness, with all its ups and downs.  So, do we find the right balance? 

Do we make time for… rest? exercise? prayer? Bible-reading? silence? laughter? dancing? embracing? What things distract or snatch away time?

Lent gives a chance to think about how we balance our lives.  Maybe not giving things up completely, but perhaps doing less of one thing to allow time for something more fulfilling, healthy or important. 

Have you got the time?

A prayer:

God of yesterday, today and forever, help us to rethink our time, to get the balance right, and rediscover that every day is a gift from you, in the name of Jesus, the Lord of eternity.  Amen.

WARM SPACE -