Don't waste the time you have

Ring, ring, ring. The wake-up call jolts us away from our sleep, and we groggily weave our way out of bed. It's time to get up and face another day. We have places to go and things to do. But most of us do not give "time" a second thought. We take it for granted, feeling that there will always be plenty of it. Consequently, we treat the commodity carelessly and use it mindlessly, as if it will last forever for us.

Do we realize that time is the most scarce commodity we have, or will ever have, during our lifetimes? We cannot stretch our time, borrow more time or make up what we've lost. So what does that tell us? It tells us that we had better make the best use, possible, of the time we have left, regardless of our age or condition. We don't dare waste, throw away or ignore the most precious gem that we'll ever have.

There are many ways that man can fill his time, but are those ways satisfying? Jesse N Danyusuf, a preacher, whose sermons I often read, talked about the subject of time, of wasting our life and the joy of using it wisely. His words prompted me to ponder the topic of the time I have left. Most would benefit if we would take a moment to look back over our lives and see what we have done with the time we've spent on this earth. I would like to know if what I've spent my time on, has fulfilled my deepest needs of value, to myself and to the world. I wondered how important my life has been in terms of spiritual worth. Has what I've contributed filled my life, and that of others, with joy and encouragement, I ask? Have I sought, to help bring to others, the knowledge of what's genuinely important during this lifetime? I often do a self-check to see how I feel, within, meditate on whose priorities I am making my own--mine or God's, and I alone, must answer that question.

C.S. Lewis quoted from his book, Mere Christianity. He wrote, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." Were we, perhaps made for another world? Maybe that is what is haunting us. One can fill his life with a good job, nice family, recreational time, enough money and possessions, and own all the things that signify success and happiness. Absolutely, there's nothing wrong with having those things, but they, of themselves, do not satisfy our inner cravings. Instead, we still often ask of ourselves, "Is this all there is to my life" and we continue to search, not knowing, always, for what we're looking to find.

I began to look for answers within Christian Scripture and found that to become truly content we must realize that our life is a gift from God, and the time we have in it, is a gift from God. Especially, when we get closer to the end of our lives, our thoughts toward time change. Hopefully we think about the legacy we're leaving behind. Most of us do not leave a large inheritance or perform anything notable, depending on what we determine to be notable, but Jesus shows us what is valuable.

Time and time, again, He exalted the lowly, those that needed kindness and mercy. They were God's important, repentant people--the ones who turned to him and depended on Him. The world soon forgets our worldly contributions and if it remembers them, it's from a distance. What is important in using our time is that we spend it spreading love and helpfulness, and doing good to everyone. We have but one time to pass through this world, one time to write our book on life, and one time to leave our handprints.