TIME IS MONEY ! by Serena Ong

(John 9:4) We must work the works of him who sent me while it is still day; night is coming when no one can work.

There was a man who found a bank that would deposit one million dollars into his account every morning. The money would be his for the day. He was in control of it and could do with it whatever he wish.

He was not obliged to use all of it in that day, however, at the end of each day, whatever is left in the account will be withdrawn. He would never see it again. The next day, another deposit of one million dollars would be made into his account.

Today we have an account similar to that of the man. Every morning God gives us 1440 minutes. Just like the man in the story, we are in control of the time in our account. What we do with our 24 hours, or 1440 minutes, is up to us. Something we must consider before we decide how to use our time is that time waits for no one. Once the day is gone we don’t get any of our time back. If we spend our time doing nothing, it would be like the man leaving all his money in there, not using it at all.

People in this world spent their time worrying. They worry about what to wear to parties, to work, even to go shopping. They worry about what to eat. Yet Jesus reminds us that these worries are unnecessary for all these things will be given to us when we strive for the kingdom of God and His righteousness. People in this world also spend their time toiling, working in order to earn more money, or going out and enjoying themselves. However, as we all know, the wise King Solomon tells us from his experience that these are all vanity (Ecc 2:1,17-19).

Jesus told His disciples a very good way to spend their time. Jesus told them to work while it is day. That is to say, the day will pass and by then it will be too late to work. Hence, we must grab hold of every day we have. Grab hold of our time and work while the sun is still out. Work while we can! Do we know what will happen tomorrow? Do we know when Jesus will be coming again? Since we cannot be certain of the future, we cannot decide how long we want to live. Hence, when God gives us time, we should make the most of it and use the time to serve Him. Serving the Lord and offering Him our best, we can be sure we will be spending our time wisely.

The Bible records in many places that we do not serve the Lord in vain. Hence, we know that we should be fully utilizing our time by serving the Lord. (1Corinthians 15:58). We know it will not be in vain and that we’d be fully utilizing our time because the work we do will follow us even after we die. (Revelation 14:13). It is the only thing we can take with us. Therefore, use our time on serving the Lord.

Reflection

Do we sometimes find that we waste our days? How do you feel about it? How would you feel if it was money in the bank you’re not spending, like the man in the story?

What kind of work can you do for the Lord?