We should all desire to make the best use of our time. As we begin a new year, I hope we are resolved that "We will not waste as much time, but make it more productive and glorifying to God." It is not just using time wisely, but, more importantly, committing or dedicating it to serve our sovereign God.

If you had a bank that would credit your account with $86,400 a day, but would not allow you to carry over a balance to the next day, and you were not allowed to borrow against the next day's deposit, what would you do? My guess is that you would draw out every cent and use it. Actually, you have such a deposit every day. God gives us 86,400 seconds of time every day. At the end of the day it expires and what is wasted is lost. Lots of people act as if time is just going to go on forever, and the account is replenished each day. The evolutionist who denies the beginning of time will also deny the end of it, as II Pet. 3:4-13 teaches. Christians must know what time is.

Time Is Brief. In David's Psalm, he said, "You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You" (Ps. 39:5). He meant that to an eternal God our time on earth is brief (cf. Job 9:25, 26). And He doesn't want us to waste it. Paul tells us about walking in wisdom, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5:15-17).

Time Is In God's Hands. Every day is governed by His eternal decrees and seen in His providential acts. David again says in the Psalms, "I trust in you, O Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hand." (Ps. 31:14, 15) Notice that the word "times" is not referring to the hours, but to the events of our lives. These are in God's hands-exactly where we want them.

James addresses plans we make for the future by saying, "Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15)

Time Presents Dangers. As long as we live on earth there will be the presence of sin in our midst. As Paul tells Timothy, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come." (2 Tim. 3:1) These are those days. The devil, the world, and our own flesh assail us without ceasing. There are temptations in our moral conduct as well as the temptations to deny or depart from the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures.

Time Will End. Time, as we know it now, will one day be past. The Bible tells us that the "time is at hand." (Rev. 22:10) The time we have been given in this life is known by God alone, but it will come to an end in one of two ways-we will die or Christ will return. In either case, God is the only one who knows when this will occur. God gives us time to repent, believe, and serve Him. After that, eternity will come-endless life to the believer and endless death to the unbeliever.

Jesus warned of such an abrupt ending in the parable of the farmer who had a bumper crop: "So he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Lk. 12:18-21) The lesson: use the gifts and the time God gives wisely-to His glory.

It is a "fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." But, what a blessing it is to commit your life to the service of a loving God! This year will surely bring times of trouble and times of joy in our lives. God will send those for our growth in grace, until the time comes when, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev. 21:4)

Time is passing swiftly. Let us resolve to commit every moment of time that God gives us to serving the Lord with praise. Do not neglect close fellowship with God in prayer, Bible reading, worship, and in every thought of each day. Do not neglect to be a faithful witness to others of the grace that God has given you. It will be time well-spent.

This year, commit your time to the Lord in whatever He calls you to do, as a faithful steward of the hours He gives you. Let our resolution be: "My time belongs to God." When you place your life and your time in God's hands you will not be disappointed. Paul says, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." (2 Tim. 1:12)