Time, the Gift of Love

Dear Trekker,
Mac Anderson, former CEO and founder of Successories, has written a delightful little book entitled, “To a Child Love Is Spelled Time”. Intriguing title to be sure! Is love really spelled t-i-m-e? If it is so to a child, is it true to a wife, an employer, a friend, even to God? “Redeeming time for the days are evil” a King James rendering of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 5, verse 16, comes to mind as I take pen in hand this month.

I’ve been thinking about time a lot lately. Interesting subject! I’ve come to some conclusions, first of which is, I’m not sure the human race really understands time. What is time? I’ve come up with a relational definition of time… time is God’s drama to reveal His love! The Scriptures begin with five power packed words… “In the beginning God created”… Time and space began! The Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, poured out the nature of God into substance, space and time. How God did it or how long it took, we don’t know for sure, but we know He did it. And so time began and simply IS in the divine domain known as Life!

Other conclusions? Time cannot be saved, it can only be spent! Since time is, it can’t be “made up”. It simply is! We don’t waste time; we always spend it in some fashion. Hence, poor choices are “like” a waste of time. “Redeeming time” is simply making good choices of its use and value. The Ephesians passage may be rendered, “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” The phrase “quality time” surely means making the most out of every moment in time, consistent with one’s values, but never being in a hurry about it. Exercising patience surely is an illustration of using time properly. Finally I have concluded that time is the one measurable unit of life we are not free to choose. If we are alive, we have time. We can only choose, therefore, while alive, how we use it.

And sometimes, our view of the usage of time is somewhat askew. There is a motivational video in association with Anderson’s book that came to my attention from the vastness of the Internet. An elderly man, a widower, was in the attic going through some valuable papers when he spotted a little journal of his now grown son. On a particular date the son’s entry was, “Went fishin’ today with Dad. Best day of my life.” The father, a retired businessman, who had kept business journals all throughout his working years, decided he would check the date of his son’s entry with his own journal entry. Sure enough, the father, too, had a very short entry for the date… “Wasted the whole day fishing with Jimmy… caught nothing.” Whoa…what an eye-opener!

I wonder if the use of time is not one of perspective? We can be so “hell bent for leather”, time may pass us by. But not really, we pass by, trekker, for time both stands still and marches on, waiting for no one. We either value the gift of love, the gift of time, God has given us, or we let it be wasted. A dad is just one person in the world, but he is the whole world to a watching, waiting, worshipping son! I remember well, better than anything else in my young life, the hours and hours I spent playing golf with my Dad. Those are the special memories that have made my life and memories of my Dad so meaningful. Golf is an incredible opportunity in which to learn life lessons. My Dad taught me not only how to swing a golf club and make putts… he taught me to live life, to get in the groove, and to understand the use of time in a golf swing! One does not rush a golf swing, nor a life!

So there is always enough time. Years ago during long days at the Pentagon, I covenanted to always take time for anyone who walked through the door. Sometimes it wasn’t convenient. One day I told a colleague of my covenant. His comment with a smile, “Gee Jim, you always acted as if you had all the time in the world for me.” Success!

Thinking of time draws me to the Old Testament and the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12: verse 1: “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.” Misspent time is the bane of all of us. By God’s grace, we can do an “about face” (repent) and change the way we spend our days. Family and friends will know they matter.

In the course of writing this month, I came across a clipping in my family’s Bible, purchased by my parents in 1908. My 91 year old sister had placed it in my hands. Undoubtedly, my mother, a great “clipper”, placed the clipping in between pages 498-499, Isaiah 57 and 58. I can’t help but think it was in those pages because of script such as verse 16 of Chapter 57: “I will not accuse (contend) forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me, the breath of man that I have created.” Yes, there will come a time when “time” will be no more for each of us.

Here is the verse in my Mother’s clipping: “When as a child, I laughed and wept, time crept; when as a youth, I dreamed and talked, time walked; when I became a full grown man, time ran; when older still I daily grew, time flew; soon I shall find in traveling on, time is gone.”

Trekker, “let’s redeem the time”, seizing every opportunity to be men of God! I love Psalm 90, verse 12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”

Seize the day (carpe diem) trekker,
Jim Meredith