Pastor's Penpoint - "Fall Back" - November 2010

So what are you going to do with your extra hour? As the end of Daylight Savings Time approached, we may have asked ourselves that question. I have been waiting for this day to come, this glorious day when we set our clocks back one hour. We could stay up late the night before, knowing that the consequences wouldn't be as great the next day. Or we could go to sleep at the regular time, knowing that the Time Fairy would place an extra hour under our pillows while we slept, giving us approximately six extra hits of the snooze button.

So what did you do with your extra hour? It seems like such a simple, innocent question, but there is danger lurking there. Did you hear it? What will you do with your extra hour? Yours. Mine. We say it repeatedly when we schedule our time. But do we really possess this thing called time?

The obvious answer, of course, is that we don't own time. It, like everything else, belongs to God. And so even on Sundays, which we call "the Lord's Day" - we run the risk of suggesting that the other six days are ours and that we can do what we want with them.

But to recognize that time itself belongs to God, that it is yet another thing that has been entrusted to our care, is to recognize that what we do with time matters. Today, time is becoming a big problem. We are cramming more and more activity into our days. Our stores must be open around the clock. Our restaurants need to stay open late - at least the drive-through.

Gone are the days when television played the national anthem and signed off the air at midnight. Gone are the days when the line between day and night was unbreakable. No, we are living in the sweeping blur of digital time that ticks by second by second with no distinction.

The natural rhythms of time are easily lost on us, because we cram more of it into a day than any other culture in any other age. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to consider our place in God's kingdom - our purpose and responsibility. As we add more and more to our dwindling time, we need to be aware that God's time shouldn't take a backseat. There's always someone in need, prayers to be lifted up and opportunities to be the extension of Christ's love.

God's grace to each of you ... in His time. ~Pastor Todd