(I went deep in the archives for this article - back to 2013. It is as real to me today as it was in 2013. ! updated it.) “Behold you have made my days as a handbreadth; and my age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. 6. Surely every man (or woman) walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heaps up riches, and knows not who shall gather them. 7. and now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” It is true that “time and tide wait for no man.” Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I was young man, starting out in life with all kinds of hopes and dreams. I was called to my first pastorate in 1960 at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Life was out there before me. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not complaining about being old(er); I’m just pointing out that fifty-seven years have just flown by. I am now a retired minister – aged 78. It all seems like yesterday. Evidently, David agreed, because in our text he told us plainly that time goes by real fast. This is true, so what can we do about it? We can see each day as a gift from God and dedicate each day to Him. Instead of getting up each morning and saying, “Good Lord it’s morning,” we can wake up and say “Good morning Lord.” The great thing is that He is with us as we start each day, as we end each day, and as we retire for the day. As David contemplated the passage of time, he concluded: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” Though our time on earth speeds by, we don’t have to dread the passage of time, because our hope is in one greater than we are. Our hope is not in the days that we live but in the life that we put into the days that we have. I will confess that I get discouraged sometimes, because everything seems to be happening so fast, and it seems sometimes that life is passing me by. Of course that is nonsense. Life is not passing me by. It is going by and I am living each day of it. Each day is a gift of God and my hope is in Him. We can remember that in Christ our lives are anchored in eternity. Some favorite verses from the Gospel of John come to me as I think about this. There is John 10:27-28: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them from my hand.” The words that bring eternity into our lives are, “and I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus knows us; He knows everything about us, yet He loves us anyway. Then there are the dynamic words from John 11:25-26, which remind us that our lives are anchored in eternity instead of the quick passage of days: “Jesus said unto her (Lazarus’ sister Martha, just before Jesus raised him from the dead) I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 26. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die…” It is this reality that makes life worthwhile and keeps us from bemoaning the passage of time. We can’t stop the passage of time, but we can make good use of it if we will trust Jesus each day. Oh, and I need to add one more verse from Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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