Time flies so make the most of it

Gerald Hallmark | Pastor, First Baptist Church

Published Friday, March 5, 2010

I read the oddest report from NASA about the humongous 8.8 earthquake in Chile. A scientist from this distinguished organization stated that the earth had been altered by this event. According to this man the days have been shorten by 1.26 milliseconds. How does a fellow figure these things out? I guess that will take care of daylight savings time this year. He also said that the center axis of the earth was thrown off by 3 inches. If Al Gore read this report then we’ll have another crises out of him and he will expect another Nobel Peace Prize. Then again, the man didn’t say anything about global warming.

This month I have a birthday and I was already thinking how quickly the days are passing and now this guy at NASA says even my remaining days are shorter. There are times you just can’t win for losing, can you? If these earthquakes keep up then before long I’m going to owe the Lord a couple of years and He is going to come looking for me. Maybe that’s why Jesus spoke of those “earth quakes in divers places” when He was lecturing the disciples on the end time. The end time will get here a lot quicker at this rate.

Oh, I know 1.26 millisecond is faster than Superman on steroids, but it’s the principle of the thing. Forget the faster than a speeding bullet thing; afterall, you give up a few milliseconds here and few milliseconds there and in just a few million years you’ve lost a whole second. The Latin term of Tempus Fugit (time flees) is going to take on a whole new meaning if this keeps up. With all this sped up time I’m now trying to reset my mantle clock. You know something? It’s hard to move that big hand 1.26 millisecond forward. I wonder if anyone would notice if I just left it alone?

Maybe I ought to forget Tempus Fugit and look at another Latin phrase Carpe Diem (seize the day) because the now shortened days are sneaking off without me. There are a lot of things I’ve been meaning to get around to so I had better get started. Maybe I need to make out my Bucket List and see where I stand on accomplishing my life’s big goals. Then again, with time speeding by so fast it won’t make any difference, or I could just give up my Latin, Bucket List and mantle clock and relax. However, I have that Mad Hatter Syndrome of running around looking at my watch and crying, “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date!” I just love that character, don’t you?

So the old world is spinning faster and faster and all the while it’s now 3 inches off center. That sounds a lot like my life! Everyday I get a little older and wobble more when I walk. My sweet wife says its waddle, but I’m sure she is just teasing. However, she did mumble something about my belt and the equator both being stretched a long way.

Every one of us has put things off with the phrase, “I’m going to get around to it.” We have a tendency to procrastinate about those things we don’t want to do. Yet, the truth is there is just so much time in each life to accomplish our life’s goals. Every day God grants each of us 24 hours, 1440 minutes and 86,400 seconds to use. How we use this time is determined by our priorities in life.

Scriptures continually reminds us that we must be good stewards of this time. After all, it’s not how much time you put into something that determines its worth, it what you put into your time that gives it value. Giving your time in the Lord’s service is always time well spent. So spend your time in His house this Sunday and be blessed.

Oops, time to go. I’m late so I’ll write more about this later when I have time.

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