This Moment

The number 1 statement I hear every day is "Man, it seems like time is moving so fast!"

I agree. Time does seem to be warping into light speed and our days slip through our hands so fast. So what is the remedy? The Psalmist said this in Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. It is apparently not natural for us to do what the verse says to do because the writer says for the Lord to "teach us!" So how does God teach us to value our days, hours, minutes, and seconds?

Paul wrote about this very thing to the church in Colossae where he says Colossians 5:5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.\

Just before these words, Paul tells those believers to devote themselves to prayer and to keep alert with an attitude of thanksgiving. And then Paul shares his overarching attitude about his life when he says "3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;4 that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it. Paul's mission in life is his high priority and he knows it takes prayer and focus to stay on that mission that God has called Him to.

I think Paul shares something that we should really look at and it is the words "mystery of Christ." What is the mystery of Christ that Paul is driven to share and explain to all who will listen? In Ephesians 3: 1-6 we can see what one of the mysteries of God was given in revelation to the Apostle. The following verses plainly speak to this. Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Paul was made a steward of God's grace and in that stewardship, he was given a commission to share that mystery wherever he traveled and that compelled him to live every moment revealing the mystery to the Gentiles and Jews as well. Now we can see why Paul might say the following words in Philippians 1: 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If we gain any wisdom from Paul's words, we for sure gain that his life was very focused on the mission given to Him by Jesus and in that mission prayer and the message were vital. I am sure in Paul's urgency to tell all He could about Jesus there was a very deliberate need to pray and stay focused on the mission.

What do you do with these moments in time? We begin to reclaim each and every one by taking time to do the small things. In my marriage, I try to show my wife daily a moment of love and in that time rekindle what that love should look like. I like to sit in "my chair" and it is a very comfortable chair at that, and enjoy some TV watching. My wife is usually watching tv on the couch, so I get up and go over and get close to her and watch the show together. It is a little thing, but I believe a necessary thing for our love. In the same way, every morning, or almost every morning, I get into God's Word and spend time in prayer with Him to watch life together. God is so awesome to let me spend time with Him, the God who controls our universe, and it is never wasted time. Those minutes are the fuel for living my life and even though I fail miserably every day God shows me great and mighty things or mysteries about life itself. It is like God is allowing me to "redeem" time by spending time with Him. I cannot totally understand how He does this, but I just know it happens. This doesn't mean I am "super spiritual" at all, but I know what His intent for me really is and I try to focus on that intent. The Psalmist spoke to this very thing in Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. 24 When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.

I don't believe in time travel, but I do believe in the God who holds time in His hands slowing time down when I spend it with Him. As God did with Adam when they strolled through the Garden of Eden together He is very willing to spend time with me and make time slow down a little every day. Paul realized this and He wrote in Ephesians 5:15 So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise,16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. My way of making the most of my time is spending time with God, the one who controls time. That has been a mystery to me, but God has given me the answer to that mystery for me. Seek His Word and He will show you individually how to solve this mystery in your life because He is a faithful friend.

There is an anonymous saying I kind of like and it goes like this. We master our minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us. The question is "What will you do with this moment?

The Pilgrimage Continues

David Warren