A Time for ... Day 263 Month 9-19, Week 36-4
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Kings 19, Ecclesiastes 3, Daniel 3:19-4:3, Ephesians 6:10-24A Time For …
“There is an appointed time for everything. There is time for every event under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
During my morning time of reading, writing and praying, I sit in a reclining chair on an angle towards the back patio door of our house. Yesterday I looked out and it was sunny. Today I am looking outside and it’s raining. Yesterday, we went waterfalling and today I’m going to work in my attic. There is a time for waterfalling and a time to stay inside and work in my attic. I don’t control the timing for rain but both waterfalling and rain are good. No matter what your take is on rain, or on waterfalling, one thing we can agree on is that time moves forward.
As I read our scripture readings this morning, I was looking at time as it relates to my own life. I also looked at the time for death and then related that to the story from Daniel of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
The three young men stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar and would not bow down to the image of gold. They were thrown into the furnace, but God delivered them. Whatever God’s purpose was in allowing them to face that furnace, their lives continued. God used this experience to change Nebuchadnezzar’s heart. His response was “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their one God.” (Daniel 3:28). He later refers to God as “the Most High God.” Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was changed at least for that moment.
I don’t expect to be thrown into a fiery furnace any time soon but from day to day, we don’t know what God’s plans are for us. What I do recognize is that there is a time for death. We all will face that inevitable day.
We all know Shakespeare’s line from Hamlet, ‘To be or not to be, that is the question.’ My answer would be a little different. There is a time to be and a time not to be. The more important question for me is, what am I going to do with the time I have? That is the real question. We can choose to waste it by accumulating money and toys or we can use it in a positive way past our time.
A number of years ago, Sylvia and I were able to start a small charitable foundation. We took a portion of funds that we had been blessed with and set up the foundation in the names of our moms. We call it the AnnieMelita Foundation. That money is controlled by us but it is not ours. We send a portion of the fund each year to 4 different charities. The funds do not diminish because we only send out what the fund has earned. So far, we have almost given away the entire amount we put in and the original amount still remains. That’s one way we’ve been able to make what we were given last beyond our own time.” Certainly there was a time for starting the fund.
In a more important sense, we can do something more timeless than that. God has given us life. As a Jesus follower, I can share that life of freedom with others. Most people at some point in their lives have said they want to make a difference. When I pass on, I want to have left a legacy. Not a legacy of my name on buildings but a legacy of life.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbour. I’ve said that often enough in this blog. So my goal is to love my neighbours so much that through that love, they might find Jesus. My dream is something I will never see. At my death my dream is to have many people remember me because through my love for them, they found Jesus.
I’d like my gravestone to say “He loved God, He loved others.” If that can be said, my time was well used!
Have a great day!
Steve
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