Last year’s keynote post,a good reminder for all of us.
Big Ben, London, with the new year’s fireworks in the background.
Time comes into special focus at the beginning of each New Year. The ten second countdown to midnight launches us instantaneously from the old into the new. Then we have to adjust to the new date writing? ?12 instead of ?11. But after a few days we forget about it being a new year and we get on with business as before.
However, being conscious of chronological time is not our only concern. We must also be sensitive to the season in which we live. There are natural seasons such as summer, autumn, winter and spring. There are seasons of life ? youth, middle age and old age. We recognize all these. But how many of us know what spiritual season we are in?
God is the God of kairos time, that is, the times and seasons of his purposes. As he works out his plan in the world he establishes the seasons, those moments of opportunity, in which heaven?s glory touches the earth and we are faced with the challenge to respond.
What will 2012 bring? That is a good question, but God does not always tell us the answer preferring us to take life one day at a time. We are called to live in the present ? as Jesus said, ?each day has enough trouble of its own? (Matthew 6:34). We are simply not made to live in the past or in the future, but in the present.
In our Vision Week, later this month, we will be looking at what God is saying to us as a church concerning his times and seasons for our lives. It is an exciting prospect to envisage God?s purposes, but in order to lay hold of them we must understand the power of the present. When God?s purposes touch our lives they always manifest in the present. This dynamic concept of the ?now? is so obvious that it is often missed.
Knowing what God wants us to do today in the light of his overall plan for our lives is the key. The legendary men of Issachar were men who understood the times (1 Chronicles 12:32). Yet, it was not an idle, speculative preoccupation with prophetic matters. There was a practical reason behind it all: they understood what Israel should do at a crucial time in the nation?s history. ?It was time to establish the kingdom in the land.
This is our ?now time?. Seize it in earnest – it will not come by again.? Make the most of every opportunity God gives you in 2012 to see his kingdom come in your life.
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A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Thank you pastor Colin, for ?A message at the right Time? as Bible says “A man has joy in the utterance of his mouth, and a word at the right time, how good it is (Proverbs 15:23). This is indeed a commendable article. My prayer is may the Lord continue to use you to change the destiny of many. Life and Times are very unique gifts from our God .when Adam violated God?s word he activated death and we lost our life, and become slave to sin and the limitations of time, death and space. As we all know, sooner or later, every single one of us is going to die and cross over to the other side. God send His son to restore us back to everlasting life. Therefore the greatest gift God ever given to mankind is Jesus. C. S. Lewis said it well: “The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God.” Jesus is our life and will be our life forever. He is indispensable and He is all-sufficing. He is our joy unspeakable and full of glory. Without every other we may live, but without Him we cannot.
Bible says ?My times are in Thy hand.? Psalm 31:15.
Another wonderful gift from God is time. Time is past, present and history. All sorrows in the world are compensated with time, as they rightly say time is the best healer. Time waits for no man and time once lost cannot be re-created so it is pretty much important for everyone to make the best use of time to get the best of time in the present as well as in the future.
What we do today, determines where we will stand tomorrow and the person who makes the best use of time today gets the best of life in the future. Time has created kings as well as beggars. Riches turn into rags and rags to riches over a matter of time. Every work that we do requires time and time cannot be negotiated or replaced. The best use of time will most likely give you the best in life. Some things in life are beyond our control and we need to make up for things before things run out of time.
Time management involves carefully analyzing how we currently spend every minute of our day and then determining ways we can make better use of those minutes. This often includes eliminating many or all of the time wasters that each of us must contend with on a daily basis. It also involves learning to set priorities.
Most people in the world are driven by wrong priorities that occupy and control their entire lives. Psychologist Abraham Maslow, who after studying the motivations of human behavior, concluded that all human behavior is driven by the same basic ?hierarchy of needs?: water, food, clothes, housing, protection, security, preservation, self-actualization, and significance. However, Jesus affirmed God?s number-one priority for all human on the planet He said ??Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well? (Matt 6:25,33).If our priorities are correct, we preserve and protect our life. When we establish our priority according to God?s purpose then our success is guaranteed. Correct priority simplifies our life. Failure to establish correct priority causes us to waste our time & energy.
Every second we have in life is a gift from God. ?Your time is in His hands.? we are a steward of the time He has given us. We have 86,400 seconds in a day no more, no less. Our responsibility today is evaluate the day. How do we redeem our 86,400 seconds each day to the glory of God? Are you lagging behind God or running ahead of Him? Bible says ?Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.? (Ephesians 5:15-16-Amplified Bible)
Let it be our prayer as we enter in to 2012 ?Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom?. Let it be our resolution this year, I will seek His kingdom rather than possessions, Godliness rather than selfishness. I will seek to please God more than respectable before men; I will meditate God?s word daily, think quietly, talk gently, and act honestly. I will listen to Godly advice, Nature and birds, babes and saints, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3John:2)
HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR 2012.
+Bishop. M.A. Lalachan