September 2 - From Time to Eternity

Human beings are created in time and time is also a creature. Our earthly existence is confined by time and time does not last forever. The past cannot be relived, the present is like vanishing moments and none of us has any confidence about the future. Trapped in such a condition, King Solomon laments that all is vanity. As he has spent much of his life searching for something real and has intrinsic value, the result is still disappointment. He finds out that the natural world is cyclical, the same things happening over and over again in constant weariness. All that promise satisfaction would turn out to be deceptions. Temporary happiness and gains cannot last and none of us can enjoy the fruit of our labors. Even the psalmist refers to the idols as worthless and void for they cannot deliver. Only the judgment of the Lord brings in joy and jubilation.

Time apart from the Creator of time and human being is meaningless. None of us could live apart from our Maker who alone has control over time. God has to break into human history to reveal the secret of human existence to us and when He breaks into time, it is the “kairos” time or the appointed time. Solomon discovers that there is an appointed time for everything. When eternity breaks into time, God has made everything beautiful in its time. God’s hand is all over time for human beings to fathom His greatness and holiness (or other worldliness). When He created us, He has put eternity into our heart so that we might come to know Him. Paul asserts, “Now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Christ has already come into time to save those of us from the tyranny of time. We must make use of the “now” in order to take hold of God’s favor and salvation.

Do you feel trapped in time and cannot get out? Do you have a feeling that all your striving and hard work could come to nothing? You can go to the Lord for an appointed time, as God is present, your time would be turned to appointed time as you have an appointment with God. The appointed times are the slots that we meet with God and have Him turn our time into eternity. You can live out the eternal life now, even before you pass on. Paul and the other apostles did not just live in time, they had eternal characteristics that others could not understand: treated as impostors yet were true; as unknown, yet well known; as dying, yet lived; as punished, yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. At the same time, they carried the mark of Christ, the Holy Spirit and the power of God in their lives and gladly faced all those challenges.

Are you living in a void or in the ultimate reality? Is your life oriented to the here and the now with all the disappointments or to eternity with all its joy?