Time management is the number one problem in today’s hectic industrialized life. It seems that no one has time for anyone or anything of value. Time runs out quickly. Moreover the distrustful post-modern thrust for what is good and true has gradually relegated time to a quasi non-existent human category. There isn’t such a thing as quality time!
But time can be redeemed, rediscovered and used responsibly. The Bible offers us four healthy approaches of how glorifying God through our time.
Time is chronology (in Greek “chronos”). The Word of God deals with time as “chronology” when it measures the linear passing of time. The latter is a sequence and duration of events such a person’s life-span, a series of happenings, a season etc. Furthermore this meaning of time suggests certain time periods by relating them with persons or particular events. In John 14:9 Jesus says to Philip: "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'?” Do I regard time merely as an arrangement or a record of events or a determination of the actual temporal succession of past events?
The biblical word for time, “kairos’, is opportunity. It means the correct moment for the happening of an event. God, the creator of time, provides us with opportunities to interrelate with His creation by using our time responsibly. Hence “kairos” requires action and it alludes more to the “what” than the “when” of time. For that matter the letter to the Ephesians tells us: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16). Do I appreciate the time God has given me as a favorable place or a suitable sequel of conditions wherein I can fulfill his noble purpose for me?
Time is fulfillment or accomplishment of past or future promises and prophesies. The Old Testament authors speak of the time of God’s Kingdom advent. Their tone unravels a secured promise of judgment and salvation. In the New Testament vision time has been fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ. This “time” stands as an attainment and actualization thanks to which all other kinds of time are to be gauged. The first words uttered by the Markan Jesus confirm this view of time: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Do I appreciate my God-given gift of time as a graced occasion wherein the Lord is continually fulfilling his loving promises in my life?
Finally the biblical idea of time transcends temporality and enters eternity, the state of God’s being. Nevertheless eternity is associated with spatio-temporal time when, for instance, it addresses the end of the human person’s time on earth and ushers in the coming of eternity. Moreover, eternity can also be held as an achievable quality time that the human person will experience in his/her own temporal time by accepting Jesus Christ and follow Him wholeheartedly (see Rev 10:6; 2 Cor 4:18). How do I live the actual existential tension of my time between the “already” and the “not yet”? Between the transient and the visible as opposed to the eternal and the hidden from the human mortal eye?
Serving the Lord Jesus in the neediest is the answer. As he will tell us on our judgment day: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40). Charity towards our neighbour redeems our time absolutely!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann