"I once was young, LaToya." My neighbor up the hall said that to me during an early morning conversation. I was doing a cool-down walk after running when our paths crossed. She was on her way into her car and stopped to let me know she was having surgery. She said, "You're looking good! You're good for running in this weather." (We've had a crazy heat streak). Then she said the simple statement above and it stuck with me. "I once was young."
Time is funny. It goes fast, it goes slow. It seems to stand still at times. It is constant. No one can stop it. Time is priceless. Once it's gone, it never comes back. We are able to manage it to benefit us, but it is beyond our control. Only God transcends time.
God is so great, so magnificent and so infinite that our finite minds cannot grasp His control over time.
2 Peter 3:8-9 says, But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
What seems like a lifetime to us is actually a portion of a second to an infinite God! Stop and read that sentence again...it's mind-blowing. In my opinion, that's the reason we can feel that 10 years ago was "just like yesterday" when clearly it wasn't.
Time is funny. It's tricky, too. It can create the facade that we have all the time in world to do this and to do that, but the truth is we don't.
2 Peter 3-10 goes on to say, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
When a thief comes, it is unexpected. The timing is unanticipated - unless you know the thief is coming. If you know the theif is coming, you would be prepared and you would not be robbed. Similarly, followers of Christ anticipate His coming. We will not feel robbed of our time because we have prepared for His coming. If you do not know Christ, you will not be prepared. The good news is, if you're reading this and do not know Christ, you can get prepared right NOW.* There is no time better than this moment!
God is patient. His patience is evident during this time of grace (grace is getting something that we don't deserve). He is allowing everyone "all the time in the world" to do what needs to be done - accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour; believe that He has died for the forgiveness of your sins and confess with your mouth that He is Lord.
Our lives are like a vapor.
James 4:13-14 says, Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
When you open your mouth on a cold day, you can see a mist for a couple seconds and then it vanishes. That mist is our lives. Make the best use of your mist. Accept Jesus Christ today.
*If you would like to learn more about Christ, you can start here.