Gtcotr/ss041110
There is a reason why life and time move forward … God designed it that way.
Ephesians 5
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
The Apostle Paul admonishes every believer to shake off the apathy, rise from your lethargy, and walk in the light, making the best use of our time in these desperate days.
In other words: Don’t just sit there and waste time … get up, get going, go forward and do something that counts while there is still time.
Time is a paradox – The faster we move the longer we live.
As we move faster time seems shorter, but we actually live longer.
The best theory suggests that people who move faster age slower.
For example, if one could move at the speed of light, aging would cease and time would stop … at least for the person who was moving that fast. While others who were moving at the regular speed would continue aging at the normal pace of life along with everyone else except for those who were moving at a much slower pace of life, these would theoretically, of course, age more rapidly.
I don’t wish to bog you down with theory or push your thoughts down endless rabbit trails, but suffice it to say that:
God is so wise and so merciful to us and, it is He who has graciously limited our natural access to time.
Can you imagine how confusing it would be if people could access the past? How would it be if they could stop, pause, jump ahead or rewind time … Do things differently, do things over – never do them at all?
Sure it might be ok if you were the only one who had that access to the past and the power to go back and change things, do things over or fix those things that went wrong … but … give that power and access to everyone and you might be the one they went back and fixed, and the changes they made which affected you might not be something you could live with, if they allowed you or your children to live at all.
Both life and time are designed by God to move forward and without life moving forward or, when life is not moving at all, it is not life as God intended, not life as God designed.
Your best life moves you forward … And for those who are moving forward – your greatest day is yet ahead!
We are admonished to get up, get engaged in life, move forward and make the most of our time, while we still have time.
We are encouraged to make the most of the day we have instead of worrying about the days gone by or those things we might have messed up or missed out on.
It can be difficult to move forward when we are too worried about the future or too focused on the past. Listen to what the prophet Isaiah said about time past:
Isaiah 43 NKJV
18 "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
Life and time are designed by God to move forward. They move forward to embrace all the new things which have not yet been birthed, all of the new joys that have not yet been experienced, all of the tomorrows not yet lived.
Your best life cannot be lived in regret of the past or in fear of the future. We can do nothing about time … God can, but we can’t.
God can pause, God can rewind, God can fast forward, and He can even delete time and, on occasion, when He has been requested to, He has done it. Such was the case in Joshua 10 when God put time on hold.
Joshua 10
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon."
13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
Not only did God once put time on hold but He also turned back the hands of time for King Hezekiah as a sign the king had been granted 15 additional years of life after it was appointed unto him to die.
This occurred 713 years Before Christ as best we can figure. It seems
King Hezekiah fell sick even unto death and Isaiah the prophet paid a visit to this King and said to him:
“Get your house in order; for you shall die and not live.” (2 Kings 20:1)
King Hezekiah prayed earnestly and wept bitterly before the Lord and God sent the prophet Isaiah back to extend his life 15 more years. However, the king was concerned if Isaiah was telling him the truth or not and so he asked the prophet for a sign.
Isaiah 38:8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
Isaiah replied, “Shall the Lord make the shadow on the sun dial to forward ten steps or backward ten steps?” “Backwards”, Hezekiah said. And so the Lord caused the sundial of Ahaz to mark a reversing in time. Some say it was but 5 hours while others say 10. It really doesn’t matter ... however:
Without regard as to the details, suffice it to say that Hezekiah believed and did live to see another 15 years, years by the way which were perhaps the worst, the most selfish and destructive years, in Hezekiah’s lifetime. You can read the historical account of the son born to Hezekiah 3 years into his extended lifetime and how he became a curse to all Israel.
Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son was 12 years old when his father died and left him to begin his reign of terror. He attempted to wipe out the worship of Jehovah among the children of Judah and he instituted cruel punishments for any who would not accept the false gods he established in the land.
There is an old Jewish tradition which says that Isaiah was put to death during this time having been sawn asunder in the trunk of a tree. In 681BC Manasseh was taken captive to Babylon. It is told that the severity of Manasseh’s imprisonment brought him to repentance before God.
God heard Manasseh’s cry and restored him to his kingdom. You can further read about this in the book of 2 Chronicles 33. Manasseh abandoned his idolatrous ways and encouraged the people to worship Jehovah. But there was no lasting reformation during his lifetime.
Sometimes it’s real hard to build up what you worked so hard to tear down.
Manasseh ended up being the longest reigning king in the history of Judah, reigning 55 years in all. He is also remembered as one of the worst.
God not only knows the past but He can also see the future, and believe me when I tell you, you can trust Him.
There is a reason why life and time move forward. God knows it is best that way! Decide right now that you are going to move forward with God and make the most of the time you have. Make a living, life & difference!
