Making the Most of the Time | A Devotion

I'm writing with a heavy heart today. Last week, my Papaw Land went to be with the Lord. This week is his visitation and funeral. I never imagined he would be going home this soon. I never imagined that I'd be seeing him for the last time at a family dinner last year. The reality that time is precious is felt much deeper now.

There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: 

a time to give birth and a time to die; 

a time to plant and a time to uproot;

 a time to kill and a time to heal; 

a time to tear down and a time to build; 

a time to weep and a time to laugh; 

a time to mourn and a time to dance; 

a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; 

a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; 

a time to search and a time to count as lost; 

a time to keep and a time to throw away; 

a time to tear and a time to sew; 

a time to be silent and a time to speak; 

a time to love and a time to hate; 

a time for war and a time for peace. 

ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8

 Time on earth is short. Eternity is forever. God is giving us the opportunity, each day that our eyes open to another morning, to make something of our time on earth, to do something that brings Him glory and brings light into the darkness. I recently heard a speaker talk about what causes a life to be incomplete. He spoke about the fact that God has our life to the second in His book, and that not every life was created to be spent the same way as another. It really squeezed my heart because he said it wasn't up to us to say that someone's life was incomplete based on how long they lived to our standard of time. 

Your time on earth will be complete when God says that it is complete. So, while you're still here, meditate on Ephesians 5:15-16 with me.

Pay careful attention, then, to how you live — not as unwise people but as wise — making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 

EPHESIANS 5:15-16

Every day that you get on this earth was not by chance. Every day that you spend being led by His Spirit is a day well spent. We have the choice to spend our days by serving the Spirit or partnering with darkness. We do not get a second life, but God does give us chance after chance, according to His will and plan for us, to get up and make the most of the opportunities presented to us.

And when we feel that we are surrounded by darkness, or that all hope is gone, remind your heart of this verse:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end. 

ECCLESIASTES 3:11 

God is the Creator of the universe. Everything that was, and is, and is to come, are known to Him. Everything that happens is no secret to Him, and although we will not understand why certain things happen when or how they do, we can trust that He does all things for His glory and for our good. The fact that He placed eternity in our hearts makes how we spend our days and the actions we take even more significant. As long as there is still breath in our lungs, we have the opportunity to do the next right thing.  It may take all the energy we can muster, push us out of our comfort zone, or require us to lean even closer to God and draw courage and strength from His Word. We are called to make the most of the time while we can. We are not promised tomorrow. Let's make our time count.

IN LOVING MEMORYOva Land15 APRIL 1946 - 5 MAY 2022