I have a weird obsession with clocks. I love how they look, their gentle ticking. I love the numbers, the shapes. I don’t know exactly why I’m drawn to them. There is probably some psychological pathology associated with a fascination with time.
The other day I ordered a beautiful industrial hourglass. It’s about a foot tall and lovely. As the “sand” slowly makes its way from top to bottom, I find myself absolutely mesmerized.
Problem is, I must have gotten a faulty one. The sand flows through perfectly in one direction, but when I turn it upside down the flow just stops. Time stands still in my new timepiece.
Time standing still. We use that phrase when we wish our children or grandchildren would stay little. Or when the perfect day or situation comes along and we don’t want to see it end. We want to capture that reality in a bottle and stay there forever.
But what if time really did stand still? What if we kept things exactly how they are and they stayed that way?
Our babies wouldn’t grow up and have their own babies. Our perfect day locked in time would at some point lose our interest. Our situation, though lovely, would never allow us to grow or change or learn.
While on this earth within the confines of timelines, we need movement. Forward, upward. The passing of time and all it brings with it are necessary for true, authentic life. And although it seemingly moves with break neck speed sometimes, that continuous motion is good. Every moment propelling us closer to eternity where time will cease to exist and every day will last forever.
My hourglass (everything in me wants to say “figure” right now, but time took whatever semblance of that I ever had, too :-)) looks its loveliest when it keeps time and the sand is moving through as it should. That’s what it was made to do.
And as I gaze at the gentle motion of time passing before my eyes through that glass, I will be reminded that though I can’t stop time, I can enjoy every moment before it disappears. I can live every second like it matters and look back on every hour with fond and precious memories knowing that NONE of it was in vain.
Jesus holds the hourglass of my life. He knows how many grains of sand have passed and how many I have to go. Never too fast or too slow. Always just the right speed for what He wants to accomplish inside of me.
Psalm 139:16 – …all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Philippians 1:6 – being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Psalm 39:4-5 – Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.
Ephesians 5:15 – Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…
