Time and its Importance

First let us ask what is time? Time is the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another. Human beings are obstructed by time, but God is outside of it. God is outside of time because God is the creator of all things and before the earth time did not exist, there was only eternity. God is outside of space and time, being that he is eternal and therefore in eternity. As human beings our life is a period of time in which we strive for Heaven. We are set in a finite period to achieve what we were created to do: to know, love, and serve God. Therefore with this finite period time is very important and precious. Our time on earth compared to infinity is but a drop of water to billions of oceans. As the Confessions of St. Augustine put it, "There is only a moment of present time." So we must spend each day doing what we can to please God, knowing the importance of each day as we use it. One of the inalienable properties of time is that it is irreversible; the linking of its parts, or the order of their succession, cannot be changed; past time does not come back. You only have that one day to do good. There is only one May 2 of the year 2007. What will you do with that? At your particular judgment God will judge you on how you used your time. Have you thought of that? So we must use our time wisely because it can be used for or against us in the rest of eternity. How will we benefit from time if we waste it on video games, TV, internet time, etc. No doubt you have heard of gaming sprees of unwise children who play for a straight eight hours on a video game. And in the end what does it accomplish for them? One statistic shows that the average person spends 10 years of his life watching TV! What excuse is there for such a waste of time?!? Time is important. Just a thought.

-J. Thomas Schutzman