Time

This weekend, in Colorado, we're going to set our clocks back an hour. It's supposed to be better for us, and save energy or something, but I can't remember anymore whether winter or summer is the Daylight Savings part!

The Bible says a lot about time. The ancient Hebraic notions of time had to do primarily with when something should occur, or with someone's life ('the days of Abraham', Genesis 26:1), not with time as a way of measuring something -- so our idea of turning clocks back and forth would seem foolish to them. The Greek language had some concepts of measurement of time (the word 'hour' is used about 50 times in the New Testament) but the word 'kairos' is often used to designate something like 'the right time' as in Acts 24:25 or 1 Peter 5:6; and the word 'aon' was used for long, indefinite periods of time, like sermons.

So what time is it today? Well, Paul said that 'at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly' in Romans 5:6, which means from that time on, it's always time to turn to God and receive the amazing grace he has created for us in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:2). And at some indefinite time in the future, we don't know when, our Lord will return and restore everything to the way he planned it in the first place.

We'll just have to wait for that, but when he arrives, I believe that 'when' will be the last of our thoughts, and 'Hallelujah!' the only thing that still matters.

In the mean-time, he's given us a lot to keep us busy. It's always time to take our calling seriously (Romans 13:11 and Ephesians 5:16). Part of our calling is to 'take every opportunity' to live and speak in a godly way around others, (Col. 4:5-6) so the Good News can spread more effectively.

So whatever time it is, whatever time we have on earth, let's use that time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.