The ticking of the clock

I trust in you, O LORD…My times are in your hands (Psalm 31:14-15).

Do you ever feel as if time is running out?

Now, I’m not talking about deadlines to finish a report, get taxes filed, or have everything ready for your party guests. What I’m talking about is the feeling that your time on earth is limited. For example, I love to read books. When I was in high school I could knock off two novels a week and still get all my schoolwork done. As life got filled with work and family, my time to read diminished, but my shopping habits did not. As a result, I now have hundreds of books waiting to be read, and I wonder if I will ever get to them. While I still love to browse at bookstores, I am hesitant to make a purchase unless I am sure that the book will go right to the top of my reading pile. I am increasingly aware that my time is limited, and it is affecting the decisions that I make.

Do you look at your finances and worry that it’s too late to save enough for retirement? Are you worried that in only a couple more years, your kids will move out on their own and leave you with an empty house? Have you always dreamed of a different career, but you worry that you’re getting too old to make the change? Are there places you’ve always wanted to go that now look hopelessly out of reach? Does your health make you wonder if you will live long enough to see your grandchildren or great-grandchildren?

Time is a finite commodity—you have a fixed amount of days on earth, and that total is non-negotiable. Sooner or later, everyone gets to a point where we start realizing that there is a finish line and it is approaching faster than we’d like. At that point our priorities change. For years we have let the minor crises of daily life push what is truly important into the background; now that we can hear the ticking of the clock, we are filled with a new sense of urgency. It’s time to get serious—serious about reaching for your dream, serious about enriching your personal connection with others, serious about changing your life for the better.

Facing the later stages of life can be stressful. Thankfully, death is not the end; it’s only a transition. Jesus promises everlasting life to everyone who trusts in Him. Death will not be the end of our work or our relationships; they will continue on in paradise! So don’t panic if time seems to be slipping away; in Jesus there are limitless tomorrows.