Time is a Gift

God's gifts to us are precious. The gift of time is precious; a precious treasure. We can never retrieve wasted minutes, hours, weeks, or years. Do we take time for granted? How do we invest our gift of time? The clock and the calendar are measurements of time. Whether our life is short or long, each day brings us closer to the end of our earthly existence, our physical life. We are to invest every minute wisely. Sleep and rest are as much a part of that investment as is time spent in activity. Time is the dimension in which everything exists.

James 4:14 says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”.

Our physical life is temporary; as is a vapor in time. Each of us will experience the death of our physical bodies but our spirits will live on through eternity. Our mind and all that we have learned while in the body on earth will always remain who we are in eternity. Our choices, now on earth, will determine how we spend eternity. When we choose to believe, God promises us that we will be with Him forever.

1 John 5:13 says, “I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may KNOW you have eternal life”. As a believer, I know that I have eternal life. I have the assurance of God's promise. Because of my choice to believe, I will never be, now, or eternally, separated from the Love of God.

2 Corinthians 6:1,2 says, “We are workers together with God, so we beg you; Do not let the grace that you received from God be for nothing. God says, 'At the right time I heard your prayers. On the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you that the right time is now, and the day of salvation is now”. Now is the time. We are instructed to choose, in this moment of time, to believe or reject what God has taught us in his Word. The decision is to be made today, before our physical death, because no one knows the time table of one's life.

I believe that there is purpose to each of our lives. God has given us enough time to do His will daily and throughout our lifetime. God gave two of my children very short lives; Elisa, 9 years and Carrie, 2 weeks of time. They didn't need the lessons learned in a long life. God used their time with us, and the suffering which we went through, to lead Richard, Erica, Christa, and me into increased faith and deeper spiritual walks. Elisa and Carrie live on through us, and through the lives of others who have been touched by God through them.

Lately, I have also been thinking about my Dad who died in 1986 when he was 77 years old (his birthday was February 16th), Richie's Aunt Carrie who died in 1985 when she was 90 years old (her birthday was March 9th) and my friend Heidi who died on Valentine's Day two years ago. Each of them made a choice to believe. I know that they are with the Lord. God used each of them in my life. I am so grateful for the time He gave them to be part of my life and to be part of God's plan for my life.

A number of years ago, I read Mitch Albom's book, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. It is an easy read and shows how each of our lives, here on earth, is connected. We can change someone's destiny by a chance meeting or the spoken word. Sometimes we know how we affect another person's life; sometimes we don't have a clue about what we did or said. In a moment, we can make a lasting impression or changing influence on the destiny of another without ever being aware of the fact that we did. One example of this in my life is a letter which I received from a patient. I had taken care of him on the Oncology Unit. It was a thank you note, thanking me for the words of encouragement which I had given to him. Time is fast paced when a nurse is trying to complete all the required tasks in a day's assignment. God must have given me the words and I must have given some of my precious time to comfort him. A few weeks later when I received the note, I could not remember what the patient looked like or the words which had been said. I just knew that I had made a difference. When we follow God's leading, we don't always see the fruit of our words or labor. Our reward is usually eternal, not immediate. But, I think that God, once and awhile, does give us a glimpse of the things which He is accomplishing through us. He encourages us to keep using our time to serve Him. We are sure to meet people in heaven whom we have affected but didn't realize it at the time. Let us be kind to, and honest with, everyone we meet!

We make choices every day about how we spend our daily gifts of time. What are our priorities? Who are our priorities? Do we take enough time to take care of our physical bodies by giving them adequate nutrition, exercise, and rest? Do we renew our minds? Do we feed our spirits through prayer, reading the word, worshiping, praising, and listening to and talking to God? Is God first in our life? Is spending time with Him important to us? Do we put time with our family on top of our priority list? We should self reflect and review our priorities. An appraisal of the way we spend our time can lead us in to making important and positive changes in our life. A change in our priorities will be evidenced by a change in who we are and how we treat others. An adjustment in the way we spend our time will influence the lives of those around us. It will have an effect on our spiritual growth and in our personal relationship with God. Very little will change until we make a conscious decision to adjust our priorities and alter how we spend our time.