Reedeming the Time

One year ends another one starts second after second since the beginning of the world the clock is ticking. What is the significance of time? Why are we so obsessed with it and why we celebrate again and again the passing of another year with parties and fireworks?

One explanation May be that the New Year that comes brings with it a wind of hope a belief that maybe we’ll do better than in the year past. Resolutions are a must at the bridge between years but most of them are trivial things like loosing weight or stop smoking nothing substantial. We see clearly however that after a certain age new year celebrations and particularly birthdays become a bitter-sweet event and the passing of years is not a celebration of entering into maturity but the beginning of a downhill pathway.

The flow of years changes us but God remains eternal immovable unchangeable beyond time But thou art the same And thy years shall have no end. (Psa 10:27)

Time is different however for God and us as the psalmist observes: For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth. (Ps 90:4-6)

How much time we actually need in the world? King David says that “the days of our years [are] seventy; and if by reason of strength [they be] eighty yet [is] their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.” (Psa 90:10)

During this time we are afraid we wont make the most of it; fear that we dont have control over its implacable passing fear that we won’t have enough time. But enough time for what? To spend it into trivial pleasures to leave “something” behind see the world? This could be in truth considered a “waste of time”.

We should look at time from a very different perspective. Time is not a rat race but a true gift from God. No matter how much we live an hour 30 years 100 we are given just enough time to reach salvation. A father said once that if a man wants to be saved a day from sunrise till sunset is enough. We have the biblical example of the thief on the cross who “stole” paradise with a word.

But even though thinks like this can happen they remain exceptions because we are not the masters of time only God Himself knows the beginning and the end of the world and of each one of us. Then how are we supposed to know when to repent how do we know when to put a stop of our perennial spiritual procrastination?  Some tried to predict the end of the world but they were proven wrong.

There is however another way instead of guessing we should try preparation we should try to live everyday as it will be the last. St. Basil the Great use to say that the greatest philosophy is the thought of death. Indeed with that perspective in mind one can realize that that best resolution of all is repentance a paradigm shift from wasting time to redeeming time. As Christians we have to redeem the time that we were given by using it properly for our salvation and thus paradoxically gaining an eternity.

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3 Replies to “Reedeming the Time”

  1. Father that is the most helpful thing I have read about the new year and resolutions etc. I love philosophy and St Basils comment about the best philosophy is a thought I will try to keep with me and live in in the coming year.

    When I started a blog I didnt consider doing a search to find out if someone else was already using the phrase Gladsome Lights. Forgive me.

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    1. Joanna thank you for your comment there is no problem with your blog name there is enough space to share on the net 🙂

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  2. The time is indeed a gift from God to us given with the hope that we will find Him and stay with Him. Moreover it is a necessity for our sinner life because it allows the sin to end through a New Begining. The only experience outside the time in our life is LOVE because LOVE will never end is part of eternity being uncreated energy from God send toward us. Open you heart to LOVE will allow you to taste the eternity outside time and history. Allowing the Gods Love to pass through you toward the others will allow you to remain in contact with God into eternity. Then each second will be a new beggining and the only resolution will be to ask God to help you to be into His Love.

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