By Chris WittsSaturday 7 Sep 2024Morning Devotions with Chris WittsFaithReading Time: 1 minute
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Transcript:
David Cassidy was a heartthrob for many young ladies in the 1970s from the TV show, The Partridge Family. You may remember it? He also was a very popular singer. Sadly, he died in November 2017 aged only 67. He died from complications from dementia from what I have read.
It was reported in several places that David’s daughter Katie shared David’s last words. And here’s what she said:
Words can’t express the solace our family’s received from all the love and support during this trying time. My father’s last words were, “So much wasted time”. This will be a daily reminder for me to share my gratitude with those I love, so as to never waste another minute. Thank you.
It is a sad commentary on one’s life to feel like so much time is wasted. How awful it must be to come to the end of your life and say, There was so much wasted time. What did David Cassidy mean? I don’t know, maybe we will never know.
The blessing we all possess
What is one thing that we all possess no matter where we live, or how we are doing economically? So long as we are alive, we possess this blessing: Time.
Time is something we cannot beg, borrow, or steal from others. It’s a blessing we all possess; the question is, What will we do with the great blessing of time that we all possess? Sounds like a straightforward question. You can use time wisely or foolishly. You can be an efficient user of time or waste it. Lost time is never found again.
British statesman Philip Stanhope said:
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
In the New Testament we read in the letter of James a good slant on time. He writes in chapter 4:
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that. (James 4:13-15 – The Message)
That’s from The Message paraphrase of the Bible. James is really saying that life is short and precious and is a blessing from God. That’s why we should make good and effective use of the time we have on this planet, and not to waste it. What are we going to do with the time we possess?
Another critical question to ask is this, Where does God fit into your plans, if at all? Every 24 hours, God gives you 86,400 seconds. God says you can use this any way you want to use it. But at the end of the day any time that’s unused or misused, you lose it. It will be gone for good. You’re never going to get it back.
God can help us use our time wisely
Someone has worked out that if you live to be 70 years old, you will spend;
- 23 years sleeping
- 17 years working
- 11 years of your life watching television and playing
- 6 years of your life travelling in a car, bus, train or plane
- 6 years of your life eating (some of us a little bit more than that)
- one year in church—if you are a Christian.
The Bible tells us that life comes from God. So life is a gift. The problem is not that we don’t have enough time. The problem is that sometimes we may not use it wisely. Sometimes we make poor choices. And poor decisions become the source of stress and strain in our life.
We are not at the mercy of our circumstances, or what is being thrown at us. The Bible stresses the fact that God has given us the freedom to choose. We all have the same amount of time. You and I and everybody around us—we all have 168 hours each week.
So the people who are more effective, the people who are more successful, the people who get more done—what’s the difference? Do they have more time? No. It’s just that they make better choices. And that’s your choice. The power of choice is in your hands. You can make better decisions about how you choose to use your time.
Can we get a proper focus on life and know what matters and what does not matter?
There are days when we should reevaluate our choices because we can easily stray off-course. And then we find ourselves under stress and all our energy drained.
The good news is that God will guide us in our choices. Moses prayed, “Lord, teach us to live well. Teach us to live wisely and well” (Psalm 90:12). An old version says, “Teach us to count our days aright so we can gain a heart of wisdom”.
That means God can help us understand the blessing of time, and how to use it well and wisely. Have a goal and objective for your daily life.
If God put me on earth, then God has something for me to do on earth. And I better do that, because that is a meaningful and purposeful goal and worthwhile thing to do. You can’t do everything. God doesn’t expect you to do everything and not everything is worth doing anyway.
But you are responsible to do with your life what God put you on this planet to do. God always has the best in line for us. Ask Him to show you what that is.