Do we appreciate, as we should, how rapidly time passes? When I was in Panama, on a past trip in the year 2000, a couple of things brought me face to face with the sobering truth that time really “flies.”
The first attention grabber came from Chico. My father had converted Chico in the early 1970’s. I was reunited with Chico on this most recent trip on a Saturday afternoon. He was cleaning the church building. Upon seeing me, he dropped everything. He hugged me. Then, he reached into his wallet and pulled out a photo of my parents and me. The photo was dated 1975. As I stared into the picture, I reflected and calculated that I now was the same age as my father was then.
While there, I also called Alberto and Olga Maugh. This Chinese family were our neighbors when we lived there from 1971 – 1973. Olga told me all about their family. She had a son who now worked for NASA, near my parents home in the Houston area. She told me that Alberto was now 80! He couldn’t be, could he? I mean, I used to play with his children. How sobering!
Life is brief. It passes quickly. Have you prepared to meet your God? The Bible says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14). The Psalmist wrote, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). The New Testament instructs that we are to be “redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5). That is, we are to regard time as something precious, every moment. We should make the most of each day (Matthew 6:34). We should not squander precious time. Time should be appreciated and used for all it is worth. Each day we should begin by declaring in our minds, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).
Life is so brief. Before you know it, your kids and grandkids will be grown. You’ll be old, then life will be over. Appreciate every moment of every day. Ask yourself if you are spending your time on what really matters.
Bryan Hodge 