Just a second...

James 4:13-15

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will[a] go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

In life time is one of the few commodities that God allows us to have some control over. Not much, but it is one of them.

So we can’t accuse or blame anyone else of wasting our time. It is we who allow our time to be wasted. As Lance Armstrong wrote in his book on cancer survival, every second counts.

But how we spend time is also a reflection of our priorities in life. One of my favourite sayings is never let the urgent stop the important but so often this happens to so many. I find it hard to prevent this from happening, but I do my best. If I make mistakes I want to make improvements, not excuses. To really make every second count.

For some work has become a priority that has no place other than no.1 in their lives. And those that don’t understand that are placed 2. And no one remembers who came second. So whilst these people are consumed by work and are consuming work everyone else who is just a second moves on.

Then one day the person who made work everything finds that work didn’t see it quite the same way, and then life changes. When they reach out to someone they find that they are no longer there because they got tired of being second. No one likes being just a second. And time is just too precious to spend being second.

There are so many ways we can spend time. As the US Declaration of Independence states, God has given us life, liberty and the ability to pursue happiness. Sadly we give God second best all too often. I do. And I want to do more, be better with what I give back to Jesus. To not place Him second. To make Him more than just a second.

For it is better to give than to receive. And this includes our time. It is better to give our time to Him, to loving others, to reaching out to others. The time we spend every second of every day is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves, our priorities and our motivation. To God we are not just a second.

But one day we will be accountable for all of our seconds. We already are but some have not realised this yet. Never be just a second. Never let God become just a second. As Romans 12:9-11 says:

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

As Psalm 100 says I serve God with gladness. I am gracious for the time He has given me. I am gracious that He has made me more than just a second. I want to make Him more than just a second. I want to bless others by telling them about how great God is, and why He should be first not second in our lives.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.