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| Vol. 15 No. 3 March 2013 | Page 14 |
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| Vol. 15 No. 3 March 2013 | Page 14 |
Mark T. Tonkery
The mechanical clock was made to adjust time. It was designed for the working man to adjust time so that he could work from sunup to sundown. In fact, in March we will be adjusting our watches for Daylight Savings Time. We will be springing forward an hour to get more sunlight in a day.
It is also said that about the same time the mechanical clock was made, the hourglass or the sandglass was made. It was designed to measure a fixed time. With the sandglass, 60 seconds will always be 60 seconds, as will an hour always be an hour. With the hourglass, time is fixed.
More than not, we apply our lives to fixed time. This is the way Solomon described time in Ecclesiastes 3:1-13: Birth/death; plant/uproot; kill/heal; tear down/build; weep/laugh; mourn/dance; scatter stones/gather them; embrace/refrain; search/give up; keep/throw away; tear/mend; love/hate; war/peace.
We humans have tried to adjust time, change time, ignore time and even use time. Yet, there is one thing that we cannot change, and that is fixed time, which will run out for all of us. Ecclesiastes 3:2 reminds, “There is time to die.” Hebrews 9:27 states, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Regardless of what we do with time, we all come to the same conclusion; we do not know how much time we have! The Bible tells us over and over that the time we have today is God’s gift, and there is no promise on how long it will last (James 4:13-14).
How much time do we have? When will our time be up? If the alarm clock of our life went off today would we be ready for Jesus? Time is a gift from God; let us use it wisely!
Robert D. Rawson
Does not God’s Word teach us twice? “There is a way that seemeth right, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25)? Why has it taken us so long to realize that the use of the simple imagination of a person can lead into sinful conduct?
Does not God’s Word teach us to ‘renew our minds’ (Romans 12:1-3)? Paul wrote of the “good, acceptable and perfect will of God.” The effort to do this renewal can be a major one. To read just a little of the counseling material regarding helping someone to overcome any addiction or obsession quickly causes one to see the effort required. However, with the Lord’s help, anyone can be blessed in the aftermath of wrong imaginations and conduct (Matthew 11:28-30). By being ‘yoked up’ with the Lord, we have renewed strength to overcome and will to endure.
To conquer imagination requires us to have extra help. Leaving the Lord out did not help King Saul in his obsession against young David (1 Samuel). Betraying the Lord did not help Judas Iscariot in his addiction to money. Simon quickly realized what ‘gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity’ meant and asked for prayer as he was told to ‘repent and pray for forgiveness’ (Acts 8:22). Perhaps a reader of this article is in Simon’s state; let the Lord into your mind to do His will, please. Today, the Lord speaks to us through the Word of God, specifically, the New Testament.