The Bible and Time

God is a God of Time.  Acts 17:24 states, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.” Since God was the creator of everything, He is the creator of time.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”  Time can be specific – as indicated in the Ecclesiastes passage above – or it can be a season of the year or a specific period.  Time can also be identified as a critical point when action needs to be taken.  I Chronicles 12:32 refers to a point in time by saying, “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

Time can be measured in many ways:  It can be marked by: (1) Seasons – summer, fall, winter, or spring; (2) By the Calendar System – years, months, weeks, and days; or (3) By Units – hours, minutes, and seconds.  Time can also be a specific period in which something happens.  For example, God does things in his time such as sending his Son, Jesus, to this earth.  The Bible says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).

Here are a few other things the Bible tells us about time.

1)    Time is valuable.  Psalm 90:12 – “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

2)    Time is brief and it can be lost.  Job 14:5 – “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”

3)    Time is a marker.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

4)    Time should be used wisely.  Ephesians 5:16-17 – “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

What are you doing with the time God has given you?  The time He has provided is valuable, it is brief, and it needs to be used with great wisdom.  Are you using your time to make a difference for your family, for others, and especially for God?