Time is precious

TIME IS PRECIOUS

By Gladys Raquel Hernández

There is a famous popular saying: “Time is Money”, which seems to involve all the world-wide population and make people occupy all their time, mind and strength in their work, progress, development, personal and family welfare, savings and investment for the future... What future?

First, the Bible teaches us that we must love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37).

Secondly, the Bible teaches us that life is uncertain.

The following are the biblical verses about the ”Rich Fool”.

“Then, I´ll say to myself, you have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. But God said to him: You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up? This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God”. (Luke 12:19-21)

This previous passage emphasizes the transitory character of life on earth and the terrible consequences after death for those who have neither encountered nor accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. God refers to this man as “Fool”. That is, if we behave as the “rich fool” of the biblical verses, we become ignorant, imprudent and stubborn. All these attitudes separate us from God.

The following biblical verses refer to “ignorance”:

“God wants you to silence stupid and ignorant people by doing right.” (1º Peter 2:15)

“In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. “But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to Him”. (Acts 17:30)

Now, in Psalm 39 from David, we can appreciate the transitory character of life:

“Please, Lord, show me my future. Will I soon be gone?. You made my life short, so brief that the time means nothing to you. Human life is but a breath, and it disappears like a shadow. Our struggles are senseless; we store up more and more, without ever knowing who will get it all”. (Psalm 39:4-6)

“Teach us to use wisely all the time we have”. (Psalm 90:12)

Likewise, in the following biblical verses, the Lord teaches us about eagerness and anxiety:

“Jesus said to His disciples: I tell you not to worry about your life! Don´t worry about having something to eat or wear. Life is more than food or clothing”. (Luke 12:22-23)

The Lord emphasizes that we should not work hard, that is, to act with eagerness and that we should not carry out “excessive work” as the main goal in our lives, just because life is uncertain. Therefore, today we are in this physical-material world and suddenly, we may travel to the light or darkness dimension, just as we have believed and confessed our Lord, Jesus, or not, while we were living on earth.

The Lord teaches us to put God´s work first. (Luke 12:31)

Thus, we realize bit by bit, that it is necessary to live a spiritual life, a life based on God´s Word. It is never late to have an encounter with God, our Creator. There is hope while we are alive. It is a hope the Lord has put into our hearts in order to encounter Him. It is very easy to make this hope come true by opening our sincere and thankful hearts to our Lord. Then, the popular saying “Time is Money”, turns into a divine saying: “Time is Precious”. You ought to make use of your time entirely all the days of your life, just trying to enjoy yourself in your Creator´s Presence, by loving Him, honoring Him, respecting and obeying Him, just trying to live a full life, a life based on justice, walking in holiness in the presence of God so as to be on good terms with God, so that your life which is uncertain does not find yourself in darkness, committing sins, acting with transgression, iniquity, rebellion, fault or omission whatsoever, out of God´s will, and so that you may say with complete conviction:

“What am I waiting for? I depend on you, Lord! (Psalm 39:7)

AMEN!!!