By Andrea Guachalla
A number of years ago the – sometimes – accurate YouTube algorithm recommended a video to me titled “41” while I was listening to some music. Why was it recommended? I have no idea, there was no point of connection with any other thing that I had been watching or listening to. But somehow it did.
It turned out that “41” wasn’t even music, it was a whole independent film that had been uploaded by a fan. Later on, I discovered it had been directed and produced by Glenn Triggs, an Australian filmmaker in 2012. The plot goes around a young man who makes a mistake and discovers a place that allows him to travel back 12 hours in time. So he tries to redeem the time that he wasted, and the time he spent doing wrong. Since he can only travel 12 hours back, he does it again and again and again trying to get things right…
I cannot spoil the film for you because I didn’t watch it complete, I don’t know if this young man was ever able to redeem his time – although I hope he did. But I marveled at how accurately the first 60 seconds of the film describe the whole idea behind the story and how it unconsciously relates to biblical truths about time: the shortness of the time we have in this life, who the Lord of the time is, and how we may redeem our time.
If you watch the first 60 seconds of the film you’d listen to a sweet voice that would remind you of Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings, and recites a poem that sounds more like a song when she speaks. It says:
“Every five seconds someone lives,
and every eight seconds someone dies,
and every second in between we are here,
or here.
TIME…
They say that time is lost in memory.
We cannot touch, see or control time.
We are essentially prisoners in this fourth dimension.
And one day all of this will be gone.
Yet, for some reason, we don’t seem to care too much…
And we rather fight each other.
The truth is: We are not really here for that long,
and for the majority of us,
we’ll only get one chance at all of this.”
Last week we read about how we tend to procrastinate and use our time unwisely, not being able to recognize the real implications of not using our time properly. It’s not only about our tendency to procrastinate, but also to be lazy, or to busy ourselves beyond what we can actually do. Consequently, we live in a state of carelessness concerning the things that we are doing. If we fall into any of these categories, it’s probably because we don’t realize that…
“Every five seconds someone lives,
And every eight seconds someone dies.”
The briefness of life
We are not aware that life is truly short. We read it in the Bible and we listen to people saying how life is so short. We might have even listened to our grandparents, or other elderly people who regret all the things they did wrong, and even worse, regret the things they didn’t do. But as young people that seems so distant and unimportant… It’s hard at this point to understand not only with our minds but also with our hearts what the Psalmist once said:
“The years of our life are seventy,
Psalms 90:9-10, English Standard Version
Or even by reason or strength eighty;
Yet their span is but toil and trouble;
They are soon gone, and we fly away.”
But for us 70 or 80 years sound like a long time; if we are here or we are there, we don’t really seem to care too much. However, do we realize that life is short? Do we understand that we “are like mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”? (James 4:14) Do we realize that every second in between the day we are born and the day we die we spend it here, our earthly home? Do we realize that we are essentially prisoners in this fourth dimension?
He who owns time
We don’t own this. We don’t own the time we have. The time we have to steward has been entrusted to us by our holy God who is the creator of all things, the one who not only created matter and life but also the temporal dimension in which all of it exists.
“And God let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for reasons, and for days and years, and let them be light in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:14-17, English Standard Version
Do we recognize that God owns our time and that He gave it to us to steward wisely for His glory?
When we are able to acknowledge that God owns us, our gifts, our means, our time, and that “from everlasting to everlasting He is God.” We ought to pray like Moses once did:
“So teach us to number our days
Psalm 90:12-17, English Standard Version
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!”
In a world where we see that most often men prefer to fight each other and do wrong rather than good, we are called to love God and love our neighbor. The Lord of time and life, the creator of all things commands us to steward the time HE gave us to glorify His holy name with whatever we do, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, He calls us to honor His name in all areas of life and to have a personal relationship with Him. And He commands us to do all of this at the same time that He gives as the means to do it: through our Savior Jesus Christ we are reconciled with Him, and we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit.
We can, like Moses, approach our father in prayer and ask Him to teach us to number our days, and to show us the work that we must do. We can rely on His Word where He teaches us:
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17, English Standard Version
The Lord of time, who calls us to do good and to glorify His name, who prepared the good works of our Lord Jesus Christ beforehand, so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:9), He is also merciful and graceful and shows us His will, He shows us the way to use our time against our own desires, and redeem it for His glory.
Using time wisely
If God is the Lord of time and not us, we know that we will respond to Him for how we redeemed the time He gave us, or for how we wasted it. Therefore, we must respond in gratitude and love by seeking to know Him more and to know His will so that we can use our time wisely.
Now, if you’re anything like me, perhaps you’ve used the excuse of not knowing what the will of God is for neglecting the wise stewardship of your time. Whenever I feel like I don’t have a clear purpose or guidance from God I tend to blame Him for not showing me His will “more clearly,” and that sadly leads me to use my time according to my own will, not His. But the truth is: We know what the will of God is. It doesn’t matter where or who you are, you know what God is calling you to do.
You are called to glorify His name and serve others in whatever circumstance you are in, whether you are content with it or not. We are called to be mindful, intentional and purposeful in our present, not in our future! We are called to be good students, loving daughters, caring friends, serving church members, we are called to prioritize the well-being of whoever is around us right now even over our own well-being.
We are called to redeem our time and, like R. C. Sproul writes, pray that the Lord will show us our priorities in the right order, and then He will show us how to redeem our time according to those priorities. Relying on God’s wisdom and not ours will lead us to identify our roles, set wise goals, and a productive schedule that honors God. R. C. also gives some practical tips that I highly recommend to read.
“TIME…
They say that time is lost in memory.
We cannot touch, see or control time.
We are essentially prisoners in this fourth dimension.
And one day all of this will be gone.“
And we, unlike the young man of the film, can’t travel back in time again and again until we get things right. Moreover, the real issue here is if we, at the end of our time, will be able to look back to what our lives were and recognize that we relied on God’s wisdom and not ours, or if we, like that young man, will look back and regret our foolish actions and try – too late – to redeem our time.
We know that one day all of this will be gone, we will leave our earthly life behind. Until that day comes, let’s seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Let’s serve our Lord wholeheartedly, mindfully and purposefully today, not tomorrow. Let’s serve Him where we are now, not where we think we will be next year.
Let’s redeem the short time we have and honor the everlasting Lord of time.
Other sources:
- C. J. Mahaney (2016). Biblical Productivity. cjmahaney.com
- Tim Challies (2015). Do More Better: A Practical Guide To Productivity. Cruciform Press.
- Mark G. Johnston (2020). Time: The Subtle Thief. Tabletalk, Ligonier Ministries.
We’re indeed living in a four dimensional prison, restricted by the space and time. The religions, philosophers and scientists have been spending thousands of years, trying to find meanings and purposes in this closed system, however they are all bound in a circle, not able to find the final answer. Fact is that the final truth could never be found in this closed system, the only way for us to know the final truth is through the revelation of someone who is beyond this closed system, not bounding by the time and space. Therefore, we shall be grateful that the almighty God who created space and time have revealed Himself through our Lord Jesus Christ, that we could know the truth, find the meaning of life and receive the eternal salvation!
Yes! Praise the Lord, the creator of all things!