What Is the Meaning of Time.... from a Human Perspective?

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)

Time is something that has really come to fascinate me in recent years. Have you ever just lain in bed or lounged about in an easy chair reflecting on what time actually is? Does the reality of time exist or is it something that is just in our mind? Time, well it does just keep marching on without our having any ability to stop, pause or push rewind. And yet, as we just watch time go steadily by our bodies continue to age and our experiences both positive and negative quickly begin to accumulate.

Time well, it is/was something I felt I had plenty of at the age of twenty something. But now as I steadily approach sixty-two “time” is fast becoming more and more mysterious, as I wonder how much time I actually have left in this human form.

The Bible reminds us in the text from Ecclesiastes of the existential reality of passing moments. These moments come to us all. We have all been born and a moment will come when we will die. That is the ultimate statistic: one out of one die! However, in between birth and death….exists the human phenomenon we call time.

Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), the English commander, historian, and poet shares with each of us hope a Christian seeks at the end of human “TIME”,

“EVEN such is Time, that takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
And pays us but with earth and dust;
Who in the dark and silent grave,
When we have wander'd all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days;
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.”

Yes we are limited at this point to time; we cannot see what God sees. But we have a sense of eternity and life that goes on beyond the veil of time. Of course, eternity would not be heaven if it is without God to give it meaning and purpose and endless joy. Eternity without God is what the Bible calls hell.

But for those who trust Christ, an unspeakable gift is granted, a new quality of life: the gift of God. God Himself is the gift, the new quality that fills our lives. Those who have the Son, said Jesus, have life! It is “knowing” Jesus Christ and his indwelling presence that is life eternal.

The Scriptures assure us concerning heaven that “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4b). There will be no tragedy or broken hearts. And finally, there we will realize the irrelevance of death for all who believe in Christ.

However, for those of you who’ve take a moment of your time to read this NOTE, “What; if any, meaning do you attach to TIME?