Scripture

 In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

~Titus 1:2,NKJV

Quote

“What is time? If no one asks me, I know but if I try to explain it to someone who asks me, I do not know.”

~Augustine {My Confessions, p. 232}

As finite human beings, we can not conceive of any existence a part from time. We are time conscious, always! When we think about heaven which is in eternity, we begin talking about time. I constantly remind people that there is no time in eternity. Time is a creation. The infinite eternal God created time. Time has a beginning and an end–eternity does not. So, there is no one waiting for you in heaven. Waiting infers time. I know John uses time analogies in the Revelation but they are to make a point. There is no time in eternity. In time, we have past, present and future but in eternity, there is not past or future, just the eternal present. Past and future do not exist apart from time. Time is finite, measurable and limited–eternity is infinite and it cannot be measured and it has no limits.

Let me give you an example: how do we measure time? We often talk about “a long time,” or “a short time,” and you understand what this means. A millennium is a thousand years, a very long time. A century is 100 years and that too may seem like a long time but only one tenth of a millennium. A decade is ten years and that is not a long time all, and you will understand how short it is once you hit the 50 year mark. Of course a year is one tenth of a decade and a year is even shorter. I am amazed at how rapidly 2022 has passed. Even with the Biden and the heat, the summer has passed quickly. A month is much shorter than a year and a day shorter by far than a month. Of course an hour is much much shorter than a day, a 1/24 ration. Then there are minutes and they are much, much, much smaller than a hour, a 1/60 ratio. Do you see see the pattern? Then we have seconds and that is where we find the present but the present is shorter than a second. In time, the present doesn’t last long. Quicker than a cat can wink its eye, the present becomes the past.

If I understand Augustine’s logic, the past and future do not exist but I have not reached a conclusion on this matter. He says the past is only in our memory. The present is in our attention and the future is in our expectations. The one thing we know for sure is that the present is fleeting and time is precious. Make every moment count. I’m not telling you what to do specifically but I will give you a hint–think eternity. Do not set your sights on this world and don’t drive your tent stakes too deep. Don’t build a mansion on a camp site. We are not going to be here that long. Live with eternity in mind.

Extra

I do thank and praise the LORD for another great LORD’s day and the opt to share the gospel. I love preaching the sermon out of Numbers 13 and I knew I would have to keep my eye on the clock. So far, no complaints. I do appreciate all the special attention that they gave me in the morning worship service: Doug sang all my favorites songs {that basically no one likes except me}. I appreciate all the cards, letters, text, gifts and the cup cakes are out of this world. June brought her one home in a to go box but didn’t get me one. She gave me a bit about 2 miles down the road and I almost turned around and went back to get them all. I did go back and get four more last night. Thank you everyone. My 37th birthday may be the happiest of all.

All the steroids have worn off and I can’t take any allergy meds this week so the eyes are getting worse each day but the good news is we do the test Wednesday and maybe they will give me more steroids. I got a lot of work I need to get done.

I hope you have a great day and a great week. God bless you and thanks for reading the blog.