TLEM
True Light Educational Ministry
Then
you will
know the Truth and the Truth will set you free ( John
8:32)
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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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