This past week, my church was studying the rapture. While we did discuss the various positions of pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation, our main focus was on how the rapture should affect our daily lives. None of us knows the day or hour when Christ will return. We must be serving Him faithfully.
There are many verses in the Bible about waking from sleep. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and Romans 13:11-14 are just two examples. We are to be using time wisely as is discussed in Ephesians 5.
This made me take a closer look at the way I spend my time and that of Christians today. It seems that while we have more time-saving gadgets than ever, we do not have time. We are always busy. The suggestion of one more thing added to our schedules is overwhelming, almost anxiety producing. How can that be?
In my childhood, a majority of churches had services three times on Sunday and at least one more time during the week as well as Saturday visitation or work days and the expectation that you were in the Word and praying daily. In Acts, we read that they met daily in the house of the Lord. Now, a majority of churches do not have all of those services. Yet, many people cannot meet even in the services provided.
Please understand. I am not saying that there is something 'sacred' about having a certain number of services or even certain times for services. We as God's children are the church, not a building. You can attend and even be active in every church service/program there is and yet be far from God. You can be dutifully reading your Bible and praying daily and be far from God. What I am seeing as a pattern in how we spend our time has simply made me wonder where the time has gone.
Where has the time gone? I think it is in distractions. C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters has many references to distractions being a great tool of the enemy. Distractions are everywhere today. It is so easy to "quickly check" social media only to realize that an hour or more has slipped by. There is not much silence today; activities are prevalent.
There is never a quiet moment without great intention to have quiet time. Our modern life-style leaves little quiet for meditation, reflection, and praise. Time for Bible Study individually, serving others, loving others, and praying is limited and pushed aside. Having so much media coming at us all the time in short clips means that our concentration and focus are affected. (Please know that I am speaking to myself as well.)
I heard a pastor say that he hoped that the young people today would get bored enough to long for God's Word and study it. There is too much that "glitters" and pulls them away from God's Word. Time is swallowed up, gone.
Where has my time gone? Granted, a lot of my time as a chronically ill person is swallowed up in survival. Yet, that time in doing what I call "survival tasks" could also be used as time with God, listening to sermons, encouraging materials or His Word, praying, and praising as I go about my tasks. But, I also see that my time is quickly and simply ... gone, wasted on trivial and temporal things.
As we focused on the rapture, my heart was challenged. Is what I am doing counting for eternity? I don't mean that you must spend 24/7 in the church building for this would also be wrong. For me, I am not even able to attend "church" as most of us think of church. Yet, my time can be spent on the eternal, laying up treasure in Heaven. I must seek God daily, moment by moment!
The Rapture could happen at any moment. Will I still be saying, "Where has the time gone?" Or will I be using it for Him? How about you?
