There’s an old song that says, “Time keeps on slipping into the future”. As most of the world has been sequestered in their homes for the past couple of months, I’ve noticed time seems to pass faster than ever before. Others have begun noticing it as well (see “Why time seems to be going faster while we are in lockdown”). Add this to the phenomenon of time passing by more quickly the older you get
(I don’t know if there’s evidence for this, but it’s something an older person told me when I was younger, and I have found it to be true in my life), and time keeps on slipping not just into the future, but out of my hands. The time we hold today will be gone tomorrow, never to return.
I write about urgency a lot because I think passivity is a tool of the devil. Satan is playing the long game. The evil one is aware the longer he can delay Christ’s coming, the longer he can continue roaming freely. The days of the devil are numbered, and he is doing everything he can to extend his time of freedom. When we live without urgency, we play right into his hands. Nothing should infuriate us more than cooperating with Satan.
Maybe it’s the constant barrage of death and gloom the media seems intent on forcing into our consciousness these days, but death’s inevitable approach should wake up the body of Christ to the urgency of our mission. Every day is an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus to those around us. Every time we don’t is an opportunity lost forever. You can’t make up for lost time. When time is lost, it is gone forever. Until we begin treating every moment as the priceless gift it is, we will not live a life as full as Christ intends for us to live.
Time keeps on slipping through our fingers because we don’t dedicate our time to God. If we believe each moment is His, then we will focus on returning the gift He entrusts to us. Every minute is a gift from God meant for us to use on His behalf. We don’t live like this because we don’t believe the moment at hand will be our last. We all believe we’ll have more time. We all think tomorrow will be the day when we rededicate ourselves to living for Him. But tomorrow may never come. The moment for action is now.
If, like me, you feel time keeps on slipping away, you must reevaluate your priorities. Seize each moment as it comes and consciously dedicate it to Jesus. Know the time entrusted to you is an invaluable gift. Until we learn to see the beauty of a moment, we will not live with the urgency required of a disciple of Jesus. Living with urgency doesn’t mean living at a break-neck pace. Instead it means being intentional with every day of our lives. It means recognizing there are no moments that are not God-ordained. Seize each moment, and you will seize the day. Don’t let time slip by without taking hold of it for the service of God’s Kingdom. We have this moment. Don’t waste it.