Saturday, April 25, 2009

I got, got, got no time ...

How would your perspective change if you had an unlimited supply of time and resources? Let that sink in for just a minute. I'm thinking that my usual annoyance with the slow teenager working the drive-thru might just evaporate.

We Americans are slaves to the clock. Some cultures operate with little thought of time. When my African friends say we will meet "tonight" I have learned that they might show up anytime after 3 pm and stay for as long as it takes until it just seems appropriate to call it a night. Time is irrelevant.

We like to have our agendas, our planners and schedules. But, we also like to fantasize about time travel and being able to manipulate time.

Enter God. Time is not an issue for God. He's timeless. Can I admit to being baffled by that fact? Timeless. All of time has happened at once. God exists in what has been called the "external present." It is occurring and finished. In fact, God created time and before He created it, there was no human measure. What time is it right now?

I look in Genesis and see a 7 day account. But then I notice that our time pieces don't even get hung in the sky until day four. Were there 7 days or not? I think there were but I also think that God includes time type stuff for our benefit because He's timeless. Our days our numbered, God's days are not.

We move to close the deal, wrap up the loose ends and then move on. But God is willing to take a lifetime or more to accomplish His purposes. In some portions of Scripture He stays silent for hundreds of years. We "drive-thru Christians" get nervous and start laying on the horn when He doesn't quickly greet us with "May I take your order." Or worse, we give up and speed away angrily.

Isaiah 40::31 Those who wait on Him get strength. They go further and higher.

If I had an eternal perspective I bet it would effect my relationships the most. I bet I'd play more games of Monopoly and Risk. Most of us value time more than we value people. We just don't have time to "waste." For most of us, time is money. It's a commodity to be spent.

I believe that God created us, trees, seeds, animals and all. Much of His creation consists of things I can wrap my mind around and, at least superficially, comprehend. They are things I can see and touch. But time? Time is not something I can produce or contain. I can't store it up for future use and cannot give my extra hours to someone else nor borrow from them when I'm in need. I have absolutely no control over time itself.

My time budget is limited. I have a very finite number of minutes to spend. I wonder why I have such a tough time recognizing that the best place to spend those minutes is in relationships? I wonder why my daily calendar shows that I live in a Christian bubble, interacting almost entirely with Christians doing Christian things. If I would just spend my minutes loving others outside the bubble, hearing them and building relationships, surely God would open hearts to eternity with Him.

That is the clear message of the gospel that Jesus preached and lived.

Where can I find a pin to pop this bubble?



1 comment:

Gina said...

Could the pin be acts of love and kindness from a Christian outside of his Christian bubble?