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IT'S ABOUT TIME!
Once upon a time, mechanical clocks had only one
hand. People were content to measure the days an
hour at a time. Before that, the passage of time was
reckoned even more slowly by means of hour glasses
and sundials. And further back yet, people regulated
their lives simply by the rising and setting of the
sun.
But today we seem to be obsessed with measuring time
in minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. TV and radio
programs start and end exactly on the hour, and
salaries are determined by the punching of a
sophisticated time clock. "You're late!" has become
an ulcer-producing accusation.
How did we get to this sad state? And why do we seem
to be more concerned about owning a watch that is
accurate to within a few seconds a year than we are
about what to do with the time it measures? Why do
science textbooks haggle over the age of the earth
and of the universe, yet ignore the Creator who
brought them into being in the first place?
Just because we can measure time more accurately
than ever doesn't really mean that we understand it
any better. A few years ago, physicist Stephen
Hawking of Cambridge University wrote a best-selling
book on this topic entitled A Brief History of Time.
Hawking does a good job of showing the connection
between time and the other three dimensions of
matter. For example, the faster an object moves the
shorter it becomes and the slower time passes for
the object. This phenomenon is called time dilation,
and it means that astronauts are slightly younger
after traveling in space than if they had stayed on
earth. Theoretically, time would stand still for a
person traveling at the speed of light.
The discovery of this law of nature is a remarkable
human achievement. Even so, Hawking confesses at the
end of his book that the most fundamental questions
about the universe are still unanswered. He asks,
"Why does the universe go to all the bother of
existing?"
The answer, of course, is found in the Bible. The
very first words of Genesis tell us that time had a
beginning. As Hawking and Einstein explain so
eloquently, time does not exist separately from
matter. Creation marked the beginning of everything
in the universe, time included. Before that, there
was only the timeless God.
When God created the heavens and the earth and
plants and animals and people He intended them to
last forever. There was to be no death, hence no end
of time. But all that changed when sin entered the
world -- and death by sin. Now the clock is running
down on every living and nonliving thing in the
universe. Every grey hair and wrinkle remind us that
we are approaching the end of our time on earth. But
instead of rejoicing over each year that God grants
us, we all too often groan when another candle is
added to the birthday cake. (Isn't it strange that
children can't wait to grow up while most adults
would like to be younger? Rarely does one hear of a
person who feels that he or she is exactly the right
age.)
That the measurement of time is a human artifact is
shown by the fact that animals are seemingly
oblivious to the passage of time. Have you ever seen
a dog or cat worrying about getting older? Does a
calf bemoan the fact that it is not being treated
like an adult? No, timekeeping is decidedly a human
urge and one that God wants us to use properly.
The fact that God divided His creative work into
24-hour days shows that He wants us to regulate our
work in a similar manner. Even though the Creator
does not get tired, we are told that He "rested" on
the seventh day and that we are to do likewise and
to use that day for special worship. Unfortunately,
that command of God has been all but obliterated
today in the mad rush to squeeze the most time and
money out of life.
God also used time to work out our salvation. "When
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4) Once again,
the Bible uses the concept of time to show how Jesus
Christ restored the broken bond between God and
humanity .
Scientists are trying to figure out why it is that
time moves in only one direction, whereas
electricity and magnetism and other aspects of
nature act in either of two opposing directions? In
this regard, the Bible gives us another insight into
the nature of our God. Yesterday, today, and
tomorrow are all 'now' to Him. Psalm 90:4 and II
Peter 3:8 tell us that a thousand years seem to the
Creator as but a single day. Think about it. God
already knows the future that we tend to worry so
much about -- and He has already worked it our for
the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
The Apostle Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 5:16 to
"redeem the time, because the days are evil." We are
to use our years wisely, not just fret that they are
passing and dash around pursuing transient and
material goodies. "One thing is needful," Jesus said
to Martha, and that is to hear and ponder the word
and will of God for every thought, word, and deed of
our lives.
Time and the hedonistic spin that sinful mankind has
put on it will come to an end. But we will not. And
where we will spend timelessness depends entirely on
what we make of Christ, and Him crucified. Reject
Him, and unending eons await in the abyss that has
been prepared for the devil and his angels. But
accept Jesus as the Savior and as the Lord of our
lives, and we shall dwell with Him in timeless
glory.
For Additional Information Contact
True Light Educational Ministry
P.O. Box 310
Shirley, NY 11967
Telephone (631) 395-4646
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TLEM