EPHESIANS 5:15-16 – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

THEME OF THE DAY: THE PASSING OF TIME.  Tick-tock, tick-tock . . . do we hear it?  If not, pull away from the loud noises of the world, our busyness, and hurried lives and listen again . . . tick-tock, tick-tock.  It is the sound of our lives ticking away, one second at a time, to one minute at a time, to one hour at a time, to one day at a time, to one week at a time, to one month at a time, and then to one year at a time.  And we do not control that clock.  No snooze button.  No resetting the clock.  Time has no master. It ticks away at its own drumbeat.  We either use it wisely or waste it foolishly.  That is the message from the Apostle Paul in today’s scripture.  It also is contained in a thoughtful poem by an unknown author . . .

The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To say just when the hands will stop;
At late, or early hour.

Now is the only time we own
to do His precious will,
Do not wait until tomorrow;
For the clock may then be still.

The fall of humanity into sin by Adam and Eve, brought catastrophic consequences.   Our separation from God was the chief one, but so much more resulted from their disobedience.  The list would be long but in keeping with today’s nugget theme of time, one stands out. This one consequence is not an easy pill to swallow.  It pricks our hearts with sharp conviction because of our guilt.  It is safe to say, this sin is committed to various degrees by all of us due to the weakness of our flesh. It is called spiritual laziness.  Should we allow this sin to waste our time on the trivial, and the worldly, we will see that time tested by fire and burned up on the Day of Judgment (1 Corinthians 3:15).  King Solomon illustrates vividly what we might call ourselves if we are spiritually lazy in the things of God – a sluggard; the person who wastes time:

“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.  Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 24:30-34).

With the sin of spiritual laziness comes its cousin, the sin of spiritual procrastination.  Coupled together, it blinds a person to the tick-tock, tick-tock of life’s clock slowly but surely bringing us to Judgment Day when spiritual laziness and procrastination will receive their due from the Lord – loss of reward.

So, listen carefully to the passing of time, and become wise by seizing time to use it wisely, not waste it foolishly.

PRAYER: Father, help me to see how quickly life passes and not to waste my only life on what doesn’t matter.

REFLECTION: Time knows no master but marches to its own drumbeat. We use it wisely or waste it foolishly.