Using Time Wisely in the Face of a Vain World

Thinking Through How We Use the Life God Grants to Us For His Glory and Our Good

Good Morning,

There is an old saying that time races when you get older because things pick up speed when they roll downhill. A more mathematical way of looking at it is that as we age the way time is proportional to the rest of our experience makes it seem as if the clock is moving faster than it really is. Whenever I would do long humps while in the Marines I would turn to the fellow next to me and say, “Let’s hurry up and make this a memory.” What that was meant to communicate was that the only thing between us enduring this hardship and the feast which awaited us at the end was the clock, and the more you could teach yourself to ignore it the faster things seemed to go. Of course, that did not actually change anything. Yet the mind is a powerful tool towards confusing and deceiving our sense of self. For today’s prayer and worship help we are going to use the example of Solomon and his Ecclesiastes to help us get a better hold on what we are doing with our own seasons, and how we should best use what the Lord in His providence provides for us for the glory of God and the blessings of our walk with Christ. We don’t need to hurry up and make it a memory because it’s never a chore to serve our Redeemer.

Hopefully we can all agree that God in His grace is worth every ounce of our time. While it can be the case sometimes that we can get so busy in life that the means by which we get to enjoy the bounty of the pure salvation of our redemption purchased by Jesus can be either just plain forgotten or swamped by the world’s concerns. In our walk through Ecclesiastes a few years ago we saw that this was a worry of Solomon. He is in the midst of contemplating all the things he has done in his time on the earth. All of them are wonderful in the eyes of the flesh. What human wouldn’t want the stuff the king of Israel lists as his. Hundreds of concubines, thousands of chariots, wives by the bushel, and money without count. Yet, it is all counted with that word that men associate with the book, vanity. Solomon comes to the reality that none of these material things matter because he can’t take it with them, and they all perish with the using. What does matter is the sure and peaceful possession of that which does not pass away, namely his faith.

The eternal has the advantage in that by its very nature it has no finality to it. One of the clearer statements of the king is worth being repeated at this point, “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed, all was vanity and grasping for the wind.” (Eccl. 2:11). The central phrase that needs focused on is “. . . my hands had done . . .”. That’s the crux of what Solomon is warning about throughout the entire book. While we usually associate the foolishness of God in regard to the word preached, it is in His way of ordering the world that probably is treated with as much if not more disdain than the men talking from the pulpit on Sunday. The world is convinced that it knows a better way to live.

Everything you see in the media, whether traditional or social, can be summarized by the need to be seen by others. Instagram, Snapchat, even Facebook and Twitter, are geared towards the need to be seen with stuff, all carefully fashioned to meet the demands of the age. Solomon has this to say, “None of it is real”. There is only one Creator and He made the world and all that is in it. What we make is by definition only possible because of what the Lord has done. The paper on which this is printed, the screen where you are reading it, etc.., and the very content of this essay will all disappear and be forgotten. No one shall know of Benjamin Glaser one day. Yet, it’s the knowledge of this reality of which Solomon is actually pointing us to which is the future.

The reason for that is because if God has made us in His image, and remade us in the image of His Son, we now are classed no longer with the fading of the flower and trimming of the grass, but with the Word which shall stand forever. That is what truly matters. What the hand of Jehovah has done is our faith and our peace. Are we to work hard? Absolutely. Can we enjoy the fruit of our labor? 100%. However, it is when the temporary becomes our eternal that we are lost and without hope in the world which is to come. Keep all things in a proper perspective and you’ll find that what you are seeking shall be found, because it is found in Jesus Christ, and not in us. There is so much more that could be said on this, but we need to start landing the plane.

In closing, take for instance the Lord’s Supper. We observed/celebrated it this past Lord’s Day. How many of us made special plans to be at the table? Set aside things of this life in order to be blessed in and through our eating and drinking the spiritual nourishment of the bread and cup? The sad thing is that we think nothing of missing out on it. It’s just another thing going on in the life of the church and whether or not I am there or not is really immaterial. It is that kind of attitude that Solomon is pointing to when he considers the work of his hands in comparison to the gifts he has received from God. Physical beauty is fleeting; the heart of the redeemed sinner is only growing in love for God. Which husband/wife would you rather have in your old age? The one who via science has maintained worldly vitality or the one who has only flourished in spiritual sanctification as he/she has aged? I know which one I’d rather have take care of me. For Christians time management is a matter of desire, of hope, of peace. Take a moment this week to think through what truly counts and what should be the joy of the spirit both this day and forever.

Last word:

https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/using-time-well

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church