Thought for the Month - November 2002

TIME - use it wisely - By Mark Donnell

Some thoughts compiled by our good brother Mark:

With each new year comes three hundred and sixty five new days; each one unexplored, some predictable, others uncertain. With each new year we carry the memories of the past; some good some bad, some will support while others will pull us down. Some years bring only blessings, others seem to bring only pain. There are new decisions, new opportunities, new faces and some of the same old ones. But these are precious times - for we can never repeat, never erase and never fast-forward them. It strikes me that our greatest commodity is time. We can waste it, loose track of it and forget it but we can never get it back. It can crawl and fly by but we can never fast forward or rewind it. We can measure it but not collect it. It can last a moment or a generation. And it can be the greatest healer and teacher we have.

We live in a world today that is smaller than it has ever been yet seems more fractured than ever. Change is not just the motto of our generation, it is the motto of each day. Speed is essential, image is everything and No. 1 is who matters. Yet the seasons continue - autumn, winter, spring and summer, and it seems that the great needs are still the great needs. We want to love and be loved. We search for people worthy of our trust. We long for different times ahead - new times. We want to cope with the changes of the seasons of life; to remain strong through it all or at least come out holding onto God. We want others to be encouraged by our stories simply because they point to God. And in all of this we learn the hard or the easy way to cope - how to handle the disappointments, the longings, the heart breaks.

Thousands of years ago the Lord provided His people with manna. Fresh each day, He provided for their needs. He is the Lord provider. Now in 2002, the Lord is the same. He is the Provider, the Sovereign King. WE need His manna. We need His provision because we need Him. We want new times. We want our Lord who stretches beyond the boundaries of time to speak into our today, for we need Him. We want Him to give us words today that make sense of yesterday and give us hope for tomorrow. We want His wisdom to rule our future.

We want something new for our generation that will snowball onto the next. We want now to be the time. We want God to stretch into our times for we are listening for His whisper. We want to fix our eyes on Him and keep running, and when we get weary, to look round and realise there are thousands of others running too.

We want young people, our friends, and our families to come to Jesus, to be His, to come home, to rest and to be refreshed. And then together to rise up and live for Him. We want to be different because we simply love Him. We want to live now. We want to live in our time. We want to have a hope in our hearts that is so deep that nothing or no one can rob us of it. We do not want to just survive. We want to enjoy this life. For it is mine and it is yours. Life is our most precious belonging.

With each new year comes three hundred and sixty five new days; each one unexplored, some predictable, others uncertain. These are precious times for we can never repeat, never erase and never fast-forward. It strikes me our greatest commodity is time. We want to enjoy this life, for it is mine and it is yours. Our God, the Alpha and the Omega, is with us.

Now is the time to live for Him.

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things"

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!