Ever felt you can’t focus on someone or something because something is scheduled? In my case, I was trying to focus on God Almighty and I kept becoming aware that I only had a half an hour before I had to start getting ready for work.
That ain’t natural, and that ain’t the way it’s supposed to be.
So I started thinking about how it is supposed to be and how it will be.
Way back when Adam and Eve were enjoying their time with each other and with their Lord in the garden, time just didn’t exist. I’m sure the sun rose and set as it does now, but those were yet further events to remind them of the glory of their God. I have a very hard time imagining Eve yelling at Adam, “Adam! Are you still lying there? Don’t you know we have to eat breakfast in 30 minutes?!” Somehow that just doesn’t jive.
On the other hand, what I do envision is time passing just as it would if one were on a month long vacation on a beach resort:
“What day is it, honey? asked Adam.
“Tuesday? or… maybe it’s Wednesday? Where’s my cell?” replied Eve.
Time is unnatural. It ruins everything. It causes stress.
It became apparent to me this week again when we were worshipping the Lord. It was as if time was standing still. I caught a brief glimpse of heaven and all time stopped. I recall wishing that particular song wouldn’t end. But, then, abruptly even, it ended all right. It went right into the next part of the ‘service’. Time had won again.
But all this makes sense now that I think about it.
God is eternal. He is outside of time. He created time.
Man, until the grave error in the garden, walked with God in a state of eternity. When man goofed, death arrived along with the clenched fists of Uncle Time.
Now man was a lit candle with an eventual end. Would the candle blow out by a gust of wind or a sneeze or would the it go out naturally when the wax ran out? In either case, the candle is on a course to the unavoidable poof.
And so man is keenly aware of time and a slave to it for every waking moment. And, thanks to alarm clocks even our sleep can be governed by it.
In Ecclesiastes, it has been determined that everything in between here and God is vanity – a bit of a waste of time, if you will. It will all pass away. Projects, dreams, buildings, positions, titles, money – it’s all a vapour. None of it can fix the time problem and create eternity.
Speak to any person over the age of, say, 40. It’s interesting to watch the effects of time working against us all. For the person who does not know God, this must be the most depressing reality in the earth. How sorrowful. How pitiful. How annoying.
But today I realized that there is freedom for those who wish to escape the death locks of time and everyone needs to know about it. It is salvation through the name and blood of Jesus.
Once you are redeemed back to your God, he will not only warmly welcome you into heaven where you will experience eternity and the freedom from time, but, what’s even more great, is that you don’t have to wait until then. You can enter into His presence where time will stop for you. You can experience the Kingdom of God on earth, just as Jesus said we could pray for.
However, as a suggestion between now and heaven I recommend using an alarm clock when you start to worship as most employers tend not to accept ‘lost in the presence of Almighty God’ as an excuse for being late to work.