Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15 (NIV)
I’m told that a pup may cry for a number of reasons, but one common reason is the absence of his mother’s heartbeat. The rhythmic sound of a heartbeat is calming for young pups. Apparently, place a ticking clock in his bed is one way to help stop your little fur baby from crying.
Does the sound of a ticking clock soothe you or really tick you off? Having grown up in a house full of clocks which chimed every fifteen minutes and cuckooed on the hour, I never really noticed the impact of a clock until… I purchased a wall clock for my office. The clock looked impressive and practical as it had five individual faces displaying the time of different worldwide cities. The issue arose when I inserted the batteries and discovered not only an unbearably loud ticking sound but none of them ticked at the same time… Each clock seemed allergic to synchronism and kept ticking like a mighty metronome. Needless to say, it drove our household crazy. The batteries were removed, time stopped and peace prevailed.
However, in life, time cannot be controlled. We all equally get twenty four hours in a day and no-one is short changed. As songwriter Chris Rice once wrote:
Each day is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one’s rich, nobody’s poor -we get 24 hours each.
While we may idiomatically talk of trying to ‘find time’, it is elusive. Even though you can’t control time, you can control how the time you have is used. Wise people realise that time is a precious commodity. Paul tells us, a sign that a person is wise is that he is sensitive to how he uses his time; he makes a disciplined use of his time. Wisdom is the art of spending time wisely.
Have you every considered the time investment in some of the world’s greatest achievements? It took Da Vinci four years to paint the Mona Lisa. It took Michelangelo four years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took Leo Tolstoy over six years to write War and Peace. It took ten years for Victor Hugo to write Les Miserables. It took thirty-six years to build St Paul’s cathedral. It took Noah a hundred years to build the ark. This list reminds me of just what can be accomplished when a person consistently channels their energy and time wisely. Inscribed on a sundial are the words, “It is later than you think.” Seize the day. Make it count for God and leave your footprints on the sands of time.