I find the post-winter solstice time very exciting, since somehow that knowledge that days are getting longer and nights shorter have a positive effect on my general outlook on life. Now whether I am alone in this or not, I'm not sure. Somehow, having to leave for work in the dark of night, and returning home after sunset is slightly unsettling. I am far more inclined to the opposite!
So, if there is anything to celebrate at this time of the year it is just that! Having said that, the hours in a day remain the same, and the challenges brought about by time management remain as well. I know that I've previously written about the issue of managing time well, and as you can see, it still remains a serious concern. There is a colloquial saying, "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got!" How true! This made me think about the way I use my time, and is a continuing thought process. We know God as the "Great I AM," and I like to see myself as the "great I can." Now, before you shoot me down for using the word 'great' to define myself, let me quantify this statement. I believe that each person on earth is 'great' simply because the Greatness of God resides within His creation. Each person has been created with a unique purpose, and each person has a unique assignment in life. All that is required is the realisation that we have been made to be great, and secondly, because God is the Creator, we simply need to believe that we can be all that God made us to be - hence, the 'great I can!'
In order for us to realize the great potential we carry, we need to make sure that our life's ambition is to focus on that, and to do that we also need to recognize the fact we have limited time in which to turn potential into significance. We learn from Job that "a person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed" ( Job 14:5), and Solomon declares, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a). The writer to the Hebrews pens, "people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
From all this we see that we have to live intentionally and purposefully, and that there is no time to be wasted. Yet so many of us waste time by dwelling on the past, harbouring offenses, living with unforgiveness and bitterness, and perpetuating idle gossip, instead of valuing time by showing love, grace and mercy and focussing on being a significant influence in the lives of others.
My sincere hope is that all of us may take a lesson from nature - as the sun shines longer towards the summer solstice, may we too shine a more positive light in and through our own lives. May we come to realize that the Son in us, is a Light that we can make shine though us. Let us become famous for that single attribute, and let people say of us, "I like having him/her around. I feel/do better for having him/her in my life." This way our epitaph one day will be a testimony to the "Great I AM" simply because we did what He expected.
