What Time Is It? The Time Is Now

12.7.22 2 Corinthians 6:1–2 (EHV)

1 As fellow workers we also urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says: At a favorable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. Look, now is the favorable time! See, now is the day of salvation!

What Time is It? The Time is Now!

When I was in college, our tennis coach was a guy in his 30’s by the name of Eggenberger. He was a great guy and a lot of fun to be around and have as a coach. I remember one day for practice he made us all run a lap around the soccer field. We all started grumbling about it, but he said something to the effect of, “I WISH I could run like that.” And that’s why he made us run, because we could. I appreciate what he was saying now much more than I did back then. When you’re young you assume you can do things forever, but you can’t.

The writer of Ecclesiastes makes the same point in the Bible in chapter 12:1–4,

1 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the bad days come and the years arrive when you will say, “I have no delight in them,” 2 before the sun and the light of the moon and the stars are darkened, before the clouds return after the rain, 3 before the day when the watchmen of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent over, and the women who grind grain cease because they are few, and those watching through the windows can barely see. 4 Then the double doors to the street are shut, as the grinding of the mill grows quiet. A person wakes up at the sound of a bird, but all the sounds of music are muffled.

Because of the brevity of life and the nature of decay while we live in a sinful world, make sure to enjoy the gifts God gives you in this life when you can. There’s no better time than NOW. Things change constantly in life. Take for instance even this church. Who knows how long we will be able to worship here freely? Who knows how long our Synod will survive, especially with the way our country is headed? We best enjoy it while we can.

However, sometimes now is NOT the time. Timing can be everything in life.

Take cooking for instance. If you don’t cook chicken long enough it will be raw and you could get sick.

A baseball player has to use his eyes and time the swing at an exact time so as to connect with the ball. If he swings a hair too early or late, he could strike out. He has to wait until the exact right time.

Because timing can be important, we often stress about time, especially when we have a lot to do. When we were over in Germany we tried to make sure we got as much in as possible during the limited amount of time we were there. But in our rush to get so much done, I fear that we didn’t enjoy the moment as much as we could have or should have either. Sometimes it’s better to SIMPLIFY and PRIORITIZE what’s really important in life instead of trying to do everything.

So in life we have to prioritize what is really important and schedule our lives according to our priorities. What can wait, what can’t wait? If something is really important to you, if you don’t have the time, you will MAKE the time. And that’s somewhat of a misnomer as well. You don’t make time. Time remains the same. You simply prioritize and make sure that you TAKE the time to do what’s important to you. You then deal with the consequences as they come. If I push this off, how much work will it cause me afterwards?

Tonight, for instance, you probably had options that you had to weigh. How much effort will it take to prepare some food to come here? Does my child have sports practice tonight? What if my child misses practice? Will I be able to leave early from work? Does my child have homework for tomorrow that he won’t be able to study for?

Timing was so important in Israelite history during the Exodus. At one set night they had to have a calf slaughtered with its blood put over the doorpost. They couldn’t wait for it. They had to have it there ON THAT NIGHT, or their firstborn son would be put to death. They needed to be ready to go with a full meal in their stomachs, their staff in their hands, and their cloaks tucked into their belts. It was an URGENT situation. The Israelites were ready, and they left in haste.