"My How Time Flies"

Every fall, a few folks show up an hour early for worship because they forgot to set their clocks back one hour when daylight savings time ended.  Yesterday was no exception as we officially reached that turning point.

For me, there is always some inner body confusion when we start changing clocks and rearranging time.  I don’t know about you, but it takes me a week to adjust to the time change.  It is only an hour difference, but it still plays havoc with my waking up and going to bed routine.

I sometimes chuckle that we so casually turn the clock back in the fall and say we have gained an hour.  We know we haven’t gained or lost anything, but it is nice to think we have some control over time.

The Bible has a lot to say about time.   Many like the quote from Ecclesiastes 3, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”   The passage was immortalized for those of us of a certain age in the pop tune written by Pete Seeger and covered in the 1960’s by an American Rock group from Los Angeles knows as The Byrds (click on the video).

One of my favorite Bible passages about time is from Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, so we might apply our hearts unto wisdom.”   I remember hearing former Davidson College President, Thomas W. Ross, say that for years he disciplined himself to actually number and count each day and record what he learned on that day.  I not so disciplined.  Many of my days are like a blur and some come and go without any reflection.     I’d like to be more like the psalmist and Thomas Ross and take time to reflect on my life at the end of day.   I think they are on to something, and it’s called wisdom.

So we have two lessons about time from the Bible.  One is that everything has its proper time and the other is that our time is limited.  What do those lessons mean for us today?  I think the meaning is that time as a gift from God is only partly ours.  If we see God’s gift as having proper uses, we need to use it in ways that are to His glory.  And, if we see God’s gift as having limits, we need not to let it slip through our fingers.

What about you and that “extra” hour from the daylight savings time change?  Can you use it in a way that demonstrates your faith and God’s love?  Can you keep it from going to waste?  What about our ordinary time every day?  What ideas do you have to use God’s gift of time appropriately?