“Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12
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I recently saw a sports highlight as I was scrolling through social media. It was of a baseball game that was tied. I’m not sure how many outs there were or what inning it was, but there was at least one runner on base — third base. The batter readied himself. The pitcher threw the ball. But the home plate umpire stepped out and declared the pitch clock had run out and, by rule, the base runner was to advance. The runner on third jogged in, and the that’s how the game ended: on a walk-off pitch-clock violation.
Now, it’s certainly a matter of debate among baseball fans and players whether or not the pitch clock has been necessary or not, but the fact of the matter is, in this story, time was up. There was no more wiggle room to play the seconds and try to win the game. However heartbreaking it must have been for the losing team, the rules are as they are right now, and they had to accept the situation. They lost because they failed to manage and properly use their time.
In our modern world, money is often looked at as the currency of life in many ways — the more you make, the better off you are and the more respected you are. But in God’s Kingdom, time is what is often spoken of as being the most valuable thing. Many scriptures talk about time and its impact on our daily life: everything in life has its God-ordained time and season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); our concept of time is not the same as God’s (2 Peter 3:8); we can make our own plans but God ultimately controls the daily happenings of our life and schedule (Proverbs 16:9, James 4:13-15, Psalm 31:15); there is a specific time for God’s intervention and divine assistance (2 Corinthians 6:2); good things happen when we wait on God’s timing (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
But perhaps the most important truth about time is that it is precious. In both Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5, we are told to redeem and make the best use of our time. When it comes to doing life with God, every second counts. Now, this doesn’t mean that we need to exhaust ourselves and be perpetually active in Kingdom work, but it does mean that we need to live with intentionality. Neuroscience confirms that whatever you most consistently do is who you’ll become, so if you want to become more like Jesus, that means you need to invest your time in certain habits that will help you get there. You need to be in the Word. You need to be in prayer. You need to have healthy periods of introspection and reflection so you can hear what God wants to teach you.
We’re not promised tomorrow. Every moment matters when it comes to living this one life we’ve been given and doing it well. The seconds are ticking down. We’re accountable for each of them. Let’s use our time wisely and in a way that’s honoring to God so that we don’t get to the end and realize it’s too late.
— Katherine Singer
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