Life Matters - May 31, 2026

‘’The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.’ (1st Corinthians 15:26) Time waits on nobody. All of us are irrevocably bound to daily schedules centered around mornings and evenings, daytime and nighttime. Those schedules may be orderly or they may be chaotic, as per our orderly or chaotic lifestyles, but they are schedules nonetheless, inexorably ruled by the inevitable passing of time, marked by the morning rising of the sun and by its setting in the evening. All material life is bound to, and revolves around, the central energy of the sun, which also in turn, determines the passing of time. 

No exceptions. All of us are irresistibly drawn to a continual reckoning with time. We live in this realm of time and our subjection to it is absolute. It may at times seem like our friend but ultimately time will be the overcomer of us all, as in, our physical bodies, even as our spiritual beings depart into the realm of eternity, where time is no more. Though some may well do better than others in harnessing time for its natural benefits in having an orderly, scheduled life, yet none of us will be able to choose material life over death when our natural life on earth runs out. 

‘’Time is money,’ I’ve heard say. No. Time itself can never be reduced to a monetary price tag. What we do with our time determines who we are and who we become. What we do with our time will determine our eternal destination. Jesus gave his life, shed his blood for us, in the realm of time and it is in the realm of time that we reject or accept Him. It is in the realm of time that we either refuse repentance and with that refusal also refuse Life, or we repent and with that repentance also receive Life. Eternal Life. Life extended to us from Jesus Christ our Savior. No – time will not stoop to price tags. Time is priceless, no matter what we may do, or not do, with it. We all intuitively know that to be true. 

Time is also the enemy of our bodies. We intuitively struggle against time. If we relax too much we inevitably find ourselves late for somewhere. If we don’t care for our bodies they will eventually fail us before the time of old age. They may fail the young even if cared for. Old age itself comes upon us even as we struggle to not age prematurely, and when the inevitable comes upon us with time, by God’s grace, to age gracefully.  

Springtime seeds need put in the ground at the proper time. Summertime and Fall harvest need done before the fruit of our labor rots. Prepared foods have what we refer to as shelf-life, a term we use to reference the timespan when particular foods are considered edible. Builders have time schedules to meet. 9 to 5, 8 to 4, 6 to ? – all workers have schedules to meet. Those courageous guys who work with concrete have a span of time between laying the stuff and finishing it before it sets up. Those courageous guys on roofs have a span of time before the weather turns unfavorable again. The same way with window and door installers, lawn and garden workers etc. We excel at what we do by doing it…on time. 

It is imperative then, that we surrender our wills to time, embrace it as God’s loving gift of discipline, even as our bodies struggle to overcome its restrictive demands on us in  ‘our’ span of time. We do need time to take care of ourselves, a discipline of its own. While success is not to be judged by what and how many things we accumulate, or don’t accumulate, in this life, no financially successful person arrived there by frittering his time away. If born into wealth and then frittering it away, we don’t view that person as being successful, but as a person to be scorned or pitied for the wasted time in a meaningless life. 

Yes, death is the final enemy of our bodies. It is a physical struggle that everyone faces with the passing of time. But the battle with time need not be in vain. The latter part of 1stCorinthians 15 tells us what will happen to those who die in the Lord; ‘So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written; Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  

‘’Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labor is not in vain in the Lord.’ 

And that, dear friends, is a meaningful life to have lived as we approach the end of our own personal time here on this spinning orb with its limitations of time. As in the 12th  chapter ofHebrews; whom the Lord loves, He chastens. God chastens us in seeking the peaceable fruit of righteousness in those who are exercised thereby. On time. 

Life Matters!