Effects on Time

My book, Genesis Three World, hit the shelves and web this month. The book, my second, identifies many of the damaging effects of sin upon this world. It also inspires hope in providing guidance for living within such a world as ours.

Today's blog post is from Chapter 6 and describes the effects of sin on time.

I encourage you to read the blog and then purchase the book. Learn how to navigate through our broken world.

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Some say it is a special construct. Others refer to it as an illusion. Einstein
called it relative (as you have experienced if you’ve been in a car accident
when seconds feel like minutes). Whatever it is, time is a key element of life
and as Steve Miller warns us, it keeps on “slippin’ into the future.”

Like each of the areas we have covered so far, time is negatively affected
by the sin in this Genesis Three World. For example, some people drift
toward the wasting of time. They remain idle as time slips. Sin kills the
motivations to honor God with time and, therefore, leads to two extremes in
time wasting. Slothfulness and Busybodiedness. As one sits passive, the
other spins their wheels and not much of any value moves into the
“Accomplished” folder.

Another result of sin on time is infatuation with the past. We do well to
learn from and enjoy memories from the past. I am thankful for the decades-
old home videos my dad made of interviews of a now-deceased generation
of Goodmans. I enjoy viewing old photos and pulling out the dust-covered
slides (remember slides?). You have similar past-oriented traditions as well.
Those are good. Remember even Jesus points us to the past each time we
take the Bread and Wine in remembrance of me. None of those secular or
religious activities call for a dwelling in the past; they offer memories, not
tents.

Luke 9:33 (NIV)– As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him,
“Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--
one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know
what he was saying.)

Peter, in trying to make sense of a beyond-comprehension occurrence,
attempted to set up camp. The Father, as He always does, had a better plan.
A perfect plan.

Luke 9:34-35 (NIV) – While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and
covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A
voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have
chosen; listen to him.”

Part of listening to (and heeding) Jesus is living each “Today” with an
eye on “Tomorrow.” No matter how good your good ol’ days were, they are
no place for you today.

Yet another result of sin on time is obsession with the future. You may
be asking, “Didn’t you just write ‘an eye on tomorrow,’ Mark?” Yes, I did.
However, “an eye on” and “obsession” are not the same thing. “An eye on”
leads to achieved goals, fulfilled dreams, self-restraint, and secure
retirement – to name a few benefits. Obsession leads to anxiety, selfishness,
missing great “now” moments, helicopter and/or live-my-unmet-dreams-
for-me parents – to name a few damages.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV) – 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,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

#ordinarylives