Only a Matter of Time

Some are saying it’s only a matter of time before the economy improves. Others are saying it is only a matter of time before the government goes bankrupt. Some are saying it’s only a matter of time before Iran has the nuclear capability to blow up Israel. Israel is saying it’s only a matter of time before it blows up Iran’s nuclear facilities. Some are saying it’s only a matter of time before we can safely leave Afghanistan in the hands of their own security forces. The Taliban are saying it’s only a matter of time before we get tired and go home and they retake the country.

In this world, time is all anyone has—they live in it, worry about it, are limited by it.  No one can change the past or control the future. It is indeed a worrisome condition—this thing called time.  But the one who is "born from above" lives outside of time (John 3:3).

Jesus left eternity and came to live in time. But He was never controlled by it.  He said it was not only pointless, but sinful, to worry about time—past, present or future. “Are there not twelve hours in a day?” (John 11:9) “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mat. 6:34) means there is a daily quota of trouble. And His assurance is that our Father will never allow us to exceed our quota.  But if we carry yesterday or tomorrow with us into TODAY we will certainly exceed it. We would be wise to follow Jesus’ pattern of living each day as a unit in and of itself, living in the ever-present, eternal reality of TODAY (Hebrews 3:7). To us, it is not a matter of time, but a matter of eternity.

Happy Birthday McDonald’s

Yes, it’s true. McDonald’s opened its first fast food restaurant on this day in 1955. A regular burger was 15 cents. Fifty-six years later, the same burger (well, not the ‘same’ one) is nearly $2. That said, if you are wise about saving money for the future, you are also shrewd enough to know you have to earn enough interest on that money to keep up with inflation. In a half-century, that $2 burger will be $26.

But of course you know I’m not talking about protecting your earthly interests! In God’s economy, whatever you invest in (it’s called sowing) will give you a guaranteed return of at least 30-fold (30, 60, 100 fold, Mark 4:8) which would mean that $2 “hamburger” is now worth $60. In “kingdom” economy, you will always ‘earn’ much more than you invest. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:29) As much as the sacrifice involved of divesting yourself of earthly treasures is great, the reward of investing in God’s kingdom is greater.

People my age worry about the future—that they will run out of money before they run out of life! I think we should rather be worried that we will run out of time before we’ve finished investing!

Future Shock: “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

We got an email last week from a pastor in a rural village in Kenya, Africa, who found the Well of Life Ministries website and had begun listening (or watching) the Treasures of Truth. What an amazing thing has happened in our lifetime—a world-wide-web of instant communication.

When I was a college student in 1970, everyone was reading the book “Future Shock”—a term by author Alvin Toffler describing the psychological state of individuals and entire societies from "too much change in too short a period of time." Popularizing the term “information overload,” he believed these future changes would cause people to feel overwhelmed, disoriented, stressed and disconnected.

Forty years later, the future shock has become a present reality. And sociologists and psychologists are pondering its mental & emotional effects on individuals and societies. Remember when Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz said: “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Well as much as we’d like to, we can’t just click our heals and go back to the way things used to be.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed these days, reflect on Jesus’ timeless words. “Come to me, all of you who are suffering from information overload, and I will teach you how you to rest in these stressful times when things are changing so fast” (Mat 11:28-29, Greg’s paraphrase!). When the cosmic commotion was too much for Jesus, He found His rest in God's unchanging Presence.