Today's Devotional

January 1, 2003

Subject: The Process Of Time

Genesis 4:3 - "And in process of time it came to pass,..."

As I watched our symbol of a New Year dawning last night; that is, the big ball drop in New York's Time Square, I realized that while almost a million people were there and millions more watched on TV, we see that as merely a symbol in our country of the start of a new year.  It really has no practical application.

Then I actually thought about the clock that they displayed and wondered, is it really just a symbol of time?  Okay, I had nothing better to do so I was just thinking to myself.  But really when you think about it, what is the purpose of a clock?  It is for us to mark the passage of time.  Why is that important?  We can say because everything runs on time, but why then did God make it that way?  Here's a response.  It has to be that way so we can see the periods in our lives where God has worked in a certain way.

In eternity, there is no time.  Why not?  Because we will know at that point, "even as we are known."  We won't need any further revelation of God in our lives.  So the clock, watch and calendar at this point are all simply tools for us to use in identifying this process that we call time.  Ten years ago, I didn't have nearly the knowledge of God that I have now.  As soon as I say "ten years ago," I have used this process called time to identify where God had me at that period.  When I say, "tomorrow starts a new year," I have once again used this process of time to say something about where God is taking me.  Remember, everything is about Him.  Even a simple thing such as time is about HIM, therefore, we have A.D. and B.C.

So I'm sure we've already broken out our tools to mark the new year, but like any tool, our progress depends on how effectively we use them.

Carlen