It's About Time

IT'S ABOUT TIME

Think about the concept of time. Our memories are recalling moments in time. We measure things by time. Right now the Olympics are going on. Many of the events are measured by time-who has the fastest time. We measure out days and weeks and seasons. We need to know what time it is. Time management is an important factor in our lives. We all wish we had more time yet we waste so much of it. Let's see what the bible has to say about time.

1) A time for everything.

It's understood that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes toward the end of his years as a kind of summation of what he had learned about life. As he pondered time and cycles he learned some things about how life operates.

Ecc. 3:1-8, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

There is a time for everything to happen and a time to do everything. Our world runs on a schedule. Solomon makes it clear that there is the natural order of things in life-birth and death, planting and harvesting. When the time comes for the first to be done it's inevitable that the time for the second thing will happen at some point.

And when it comes to something like planting and harvesting you won't be able to do the latter if you miss the right time to do the former. If you procrastinate and don't plant when the time is right you will miss the opportunity, which means you will not enjoy the harvest. When we know it's time to do something we need to take advantage of the opportunity before me miss out.

Planting and uprooting can apply to different things in life. There's a time to settle down and stay a while but the time may come when it's appropriate to uproot and go somewhere else. That can happen with a business. Sometimes a business changes locations; they want a nicer location or a bigger facility. Perhaps the area has changed over time and business has slowed down so they decide to uproot and plant themselves in a better location so their profits can increase. Sometimes churches change locations for similar reasons.

The thing to be clear on is when to do it. Wait too long and the opportunity can pass you by. Act too soon and you miss a remedy for your situation. Timing is everything. Solomon tells us there is a proper way for things to happen.

His words about the natural order and timing of things is true regarding the spiritual order of things too. God does things according to perfect timing. And when he moves us to do something it's about timing.

When the Holy Spirit told Philip to go up to the Ethiopian's chariot it was the perfect time. He was reading the prophecy concerning Jesus' affliction in Isaiah 53 about a sheep being led to the slaughter. Philip asked if he understood what he was reading and he responded with a 'no' because he didn't know who Isaiah was talking about. That gave Philip the lead in to introduce Jesus.

Had Philip ignored the Spirit's precise timing the Ethiopian may have left and the opportunity would've been gone. Not that God wouldn't have provided another opportunity for the Ethiopian in his 'next encounter' but he wanted it to happen with Philip at that specific time. Sometimes God's timing can seem strange but we shouldn't ignore it because God has a reason not only for what he does, but when he does it.

I won't cover all the things Solomon lists here but let's look at a few. 'A time to keep and a time to throw away'. Sometimes we get rid of things too soon. There's nothing wrong with the one we have we just want the newer model. Not that it's always the wrong thing to do but it's wise when we put, 'a time to keep' into practice. When it can be fixed or if it still does what you need it to why not keep it?