Saving Time
You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away James 4:14
For A Little While – Have you noticed how consumed we are with the inflexibility of time? We hear the advertisers shouting, “Another way to save time,” but, of course, it is mythology. You can’t save time. It just keeps passing you by no matter what you do. In fact, if you are caught in the cult of saving time, that probably means that you are simply addicted to packing more tasks in the same amount of seconds. No wonder you feel exhausted. You’re working against the clock (pun intended). It will not allow you to save a single second in spite of your delusions. What’s gone is gone. You just lost it into the past. Maybe that’s why the Biblical perspective is never about time saving. It is about time sanctifying.
God tells us that our days are numbered. That is not an enticement to do more and more. It is a reminder that we need an eschatological perspective, if we are going to see the world as God sees the world. Do you suppose that God is even slightly interested in “saving time?” He never hurries, but He is never late. If it takes four thousand years to bring about a single one of His purposes, what does it matter? God always arrives at exactly the right moment. And if we are guided by the Spirit, we will have a view of purpose that is not limited to the few moments of vaporous existence we are so concerned about in this world. We will recognize that the promise to Abraham took only 400 years, the promise of the Messiah took only thousands of decades and God’s plan for me won’t be even close to completion when the numbered days are over.
While I am here, I am in the “just a little while” category of temporal existence. James calls it pros oligon, meaning “small” or “brief.” James was no mathematician but he knew the difference between life here and the eternity to come. What percentage of your eternal existence is bound up in the moments between birth and the grave? Try dividing by eternity and you will get the idea. Vapor. Mist. Like a puff of smoke. Oh, I know. It often seems as though the days here are interminably long. We are often duped into thinking that we must find significance here before the ice man cometh. But we need to remember Abraham, a man who had only one child of promise during his long life on earth, yet was the father of millions who were to come. Abraham’s destiny is still being worked out in God’s providence. So is mine. So is yours. God never stopped creating, He is simply preparing for the next stage in the eternal unfolding of the Plan. Are you willing to wait?
Here’s the Biblical view of saving time. Spend it all right now! Seek first the kingdom. Don’t be emotionally distraught about tomorrow. Store up treasures for another place. Remember that life as you now know it is only a vapor. There is a lot more to come. So, what are you trying to hold on to?
