by J. Randal Matheny

My homeschooled daughter Leila started a new grade this morning. As I was finishing off my almondshake for breakfast, Vicki cranked up the first exercise of the new school year.

Appropriately enough, her first spelling lesson grouped words about "time."

First, Vicki read a historical, philosophical quote from the wonderful historical, philosophical figure, Benjamin Franklin, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

Leila then had to pronounce, spell out, and pronounce again important terms associated with time. I spelled them out in my mind with her.

Simultaneously - All those things I'm trying to do at once.

Chronic - Ongoing, often in a negative sense, like "chronic pain" at losing to Leila in rummy or to the boys in basketball.

Occasional - Once in a while, with no regularity. Like my exercise routine.

February - The book said the first "r" gets a slight pronunciation. Who wrote the book anyway, a Bostonian?

Seasonal - Occurring certain times of the year, like Christmas, Easter, or my poetic inspiration.

Century - How long I plan to live.

Ancient - How old my daughter thinks I am. Wait till she sees me at 100.

Contemporary - What some men in mid-life crisis want to be. And some churches.

Punctual - Arriving on time. But I live in Brazil, where everybody's late.

Continuous - Nonstop. Like my daughter's conversation when she gets to sit by her dad on the airplane.

The Bible has some time terms it wants us to know as well.

Always -

"Blessed is the one who fears the LORD
always, but whoever hardens his heart will
fall into calamity" (Prov. 28:14, ESV).

"You shall therefore love the LORD your God
and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules,
and his commandments always" (Deut. 11:1).

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will
say, Rejoice" (Php. 4:4).

"but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense
to anyone who asks you for a reason for the
hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15).

Soon -

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under
your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you" (Rom. 16:20).

"And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the
one who keeps the words of the prophecy of
this book" (Rev. 22:7).

Never -

"For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt. 5:20).

"I give them eternal life, and they will
never perish, and no one will snatch them out
of my hand" (John 10:28).

"But how are they to call on him in whom they
have not believed? And how are they to
believe in him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone
preaching?" (Rom. 10:14).

Ancient -

"Do not move the ancient landmark that your
fathers have set" (Prov. 22:28).

"Thus says the LORD: 'Stand by the roads, and
look, and ask for the ancient paths, where
the good way is; and walk in it, and find
rest for your souls. But they said, "We will
not walk in it"'" (Jer. 6:16).

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too
little to be among the clans of Judah, from
you shall come forth for me one who is to be
ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days" (Mic. 5:2).

Opportunity -

"This will be your opportunity to bear
witness" (Luke 21:13).

"So then, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to everyone, and especially to those who
are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10).

"and give no opportunity to the devil" (Eph.
4:27).

Time -

"Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet
come, but your time is always here'" (John
7:6).

"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but
now he commands all people everywhere to
repent" (Acts 17:13).

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the
mighty hand of God so that at the proper time
he may exalt you" (1 Pet. 5:6).

Conclusion -

That's what I have to do now.

As always, the message in my intray got me to thinking (as it should) this time about "TIME". An old proverb from a time management class - "Time is life. Waste your time and you waste your life." I've always considered this a secular corollary to the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Let me now take this OPPORTUNITY to let you know that the TIME you invest in these columns and us reading them are worthWHILE. Thank you for your efforts.

May the Lord bless...
Larry Klotz
Sherwood, Arkansas

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