“Time is the fire in which we burn.” – Delmore Schwartz, “Calmly We Walk Through This April’s Day” (1967)


This article may seem somewhat philosophical, but remains biblical. Like money, time is currency. And like money, time is something we do not have in abundance.

Some may disagree with that statement. What I mean is, some are wealthy and have lots of money. Others are not. Yet given time and talent, we can make more money. In fact, enough can be created to make everyone equally wealthy! But time is something no one can make. We cannot create it, make it or save it. It was never meant to be! Have you ever tried to save time? How would you go about it?

Would you lock it in your car, would you seal it in a jar? Can you store it in the house, can you hoard it like a mouse? You get my drift… We can no more save time than we can make time. We can only reallocate the amount of time available. No one ever saved or made time and had more than 24 hours to spend. So why do we treat time as we do? Maybe it is because we seldom consider time is so intricately interwoven with life. From the moment we were born, conceived even, we all have an allotted amount of time to spend. How much time really depends on us and what we do with it.

“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1 

Think about it. How many people left this life today thinking they might not see another day? Very few. It's not a thought we normally entertain. Yet we count down with every breath we take.

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14 

There is nothing we can do to prevent death. We might delay it a bit by keeping ourselves as healthy as we can. Yet as those who have gone on before us, we will come to the end of our time.

“Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.” Psalms 89:47-48 

The scriptures speaks of the end of time. How often do we consider that each one of us has our own time clock? And it ticks away whether we think about it or not. The day will come when there should be time no longer. What will we have done with the time allotted us?

“And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:” Revelation 10:6   “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalms 90:12   “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17

Even Jesus spoke of the brevity of life. As the Son of God, he knew the value of time. He spoke several times concerning his own end. This one can be applied to everyone.

“I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9:4 

Job, in his sorrow, spoke of the brevity of life. He understood, in his weakness, that man's life is but a momentary flash in a field of dreams.

“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” Job 14:1-2

When we think of eternity past and future in relation to our current existence, time is nothing more than a flash. Imagine nothing but darkness, so thick you can't see your hand in front of your face. Now imagine a lightning strike or the flash of a camera bulb, then darkness again. This is time my friends. Time to us seems to last, seems to have substance. But this is only because we have something as a measure for it. Without that, would time exist? Time only exists because we measure it! Genesis 8 gives us a piece of this unit of measurement. It's the seasons.

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 

We were given the 24 hour clock and the calendar to complete the measurement of time. Yet there WILL come a day when time will end. For many, this is a dismal thought. It's one many attempt to escape from in different ways. But the thought of the end of time does not need to be one without hope.

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17 

God has promised that all who come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ will transcend time! He offers eternal life to those who does His will. To many, time is a curse, yet time is a blessing! It gives all a chance to return to our Creator, give our hearts fully to Him and serve one another in well doing. In doing so, by faith, we secure our place of restoration in the world to come. A world where life is no longer brief, but lasts forever as it was intended from the beginning! A world without sickness and death, a world without sorrow and tears, a world without poverty and lack, a world without hatred and crime. A world without time… (Revelation 21:1-7, 22:1-5) I hope this post was helpful. Thank you for visiting!