A million things to accomplish and so little time. That's my situation on nearly a daily basis. Maybe it's yours as well. Technology has brought both comfort and stress to our lives.
Time management
Many of us don't always manage our time well. Something unexpected is always popping up in our lives. We are easily distracted. It can be and typically is frustrating. How we work through our frustrations will determine whether we are productive or not.
Kids, phone calls, text messages, emails, neighbors knocking, work, crying children, loud music from the neighbors karaoke machines wailing, dogs barking, cats fighting after hours, slow Internet services, and a large list of other things pull and drag us away from what we could be doing to properly manage our time.
I used to answer texts and emails as soon as I heard the alerts on my laptops or smartphones. Not anymore. If I'm busy, they have to wait until I have the time to get to them. Clients included. I don't need the stress and neither do you.
Managing our time
We only get 24 hours in a day if God so ordains. We can't squeeze a moment in longer. Well, let me rephrase that: if God wills we can, but it has only happened twice in recorded Biblical history (here come the scoffers). For one, God extended a battle led by Joshua by turning back the sun for nearly a day so Joshua and his army could defeat their enemies, the Amorites.
It is written: "On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:
'Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.' So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" (Joshua 10:12-14, NIV).
Joshua knew that if he didn't conquer the enemy before the sun went down that they would regroup and counterattack Israel the next day. In verse 8 we see where Joshua trusted God's promise to fight for Israel. I'll let you be the judge regarding the meaning. Scholars have varying opinions, as always.
Also, we do know Joshua defeated his enemies. He never totally vanquished all of Israel's enemies, but God continued to work and King David was finally successful in defeating Israel's enemies.
While God can and does perform miracles today, let's not expect Him to give us an extra 20 minutes in a 24-hour day so we can get an extra few winks of sleep in.
Our time/God's time
These are completely different. We live in time and God lives in eternity. The latter is difficult to grasp because of our limited minds. One anonymous author put it this way: "Eternal life can function outside of and beyond time, as well as within time."
Interesting, yeah? Mull that over.
We would be wrong to think for a moment that eternal life is simply a never ending progression of year after year after year. A prevailing New Testament word for eternal is the Greek aiónios. This provides us with the concept of quality as well as quantity. Eternity is thus independent of time as we know it. Better yet, it strongly suggests productivity.
Eternity - how and when
God's word the Bible informs us on several occasions that there is eternal life for all of us humans. But there is a huge difference between those who are Christians and those who are not.
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12, NIV).
Simply and importantly put, eternal life is in Christ Jesus alone. By faith alone Let us be mindful of the truth of God's word when we read: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV).
When we have trusted in Jesus and repented of our sins, we are assured of eternity. Now keep this in mind, eternity does not begin when we die, but rather once you have honestly believed, it begins right then! Say what? How do you know this to be true. Easy - God's word tells us.
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them" (John 3:36, NIV).
The word has is in the present tense. Now.
Parting words
For those of you who have not believed or who are unsure of their salvation, I want to encourage you to come to Jesus in faith and believe on Him who alone saves.
"The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17, NIV).
If you place your faith in Him, trusting His death on the cross to pay for your sins, you will be forgiven and receive the promise of eternal life in heaven. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV).
Decide today. Decide now. Make the best use of your time and eternity.
"I am the way, the truth and the life" John 14:6
Thanks for this. True life begins with Jesus. Come to Him