Passing of Time

The older you are, the more your memories invade your thoughts during the holidays.  You recall family and pleasant moments.  The finality of the passing of time brings a sigh.  How fleeting is this life!

Seasonal songs set the context for reflections about time.  That glorious song of old came upon the midnight clear, yet here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore.  Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?  Not if all is calm, all is bright when you think of them.  You see what I mean.

God created you to think about time, and the ability to remember is meant to be a gift. It is indeed a gift when you learn from the past, and when you retreat to pleasant moments that make the present sweeter.  You should find it no surprise that God has spoken into that space where we think about time.  One concise collection of such inspiration is Psalm 90.  Let me share these with you.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were born” (v.1,2).  God has always offered a place of rest and refuge.  You work and wander in this life, but Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28).  When guilt about the past or worry about the future exhaust you, you can find rest.

“You turn man back into dust.  For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by” (v.3,4).  Your time in the flesh is limited like grass when “toward evening it fades and withers away” (v.6).  This recalls one of life’s ultimate questions, “Why am I here?”  The most satisfying answer you will ever find is rooted in this: “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1).

“Soon (life) is gone and we fly away.  So teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (v.10,12).  The farmer counts the days from planting until his crop presents its harvest and the chaff blows away.  Jesus likened your life to a seed.  “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).  Paul elaborated, “I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).  Your life yields a wise harvest when Christ lives in you.

Your life might be measured in years, but you live it one day at a time.  This year, may each of your days be full of rest, purpose, and harvest.  I cannot think of a better way for you to pass the time.