In The Master's Service

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Redeeming The Time

Elder Louis Culver

Time is a precious commodity, limited and fleeting. We are not promised any time other than the instant we are in at any given moment. We may not draw even one more breath. Time is limited.

How we utilize our time is very important. Wastefulness is unforgiveable. Any time we use unwisely is an affront to the Giver of Life. God has given us our life to be used in service to Him, praising and honoring His matchless name. To do anything less is to displease God and waste what He has given us. To add manmade things to the time God has given us is to clutter that time with things of lesser importance than the things of God. Both extremes are unacceptible to God.

Often we find ourselves trying to control actions and activities of others while neglecting things we are charged with doing. I find that if I am to remain unspotted from the world, I must be constantly watching my every move, thought, action. In order to do so I must be totally involved with myself. I have no time in which to control or direct others in the way they should live. If I am to preach the Word of God with any degree of understanding, it must come from God. At the same time I must be familiar with the Word through reading and studying. God does not pour His Word into my head such that it can run out my mouth when I open it. God reveals His Word to His people in His own way and manner; however, we must read and study the written word in order to be able to expound upon it. Life is a learning process.

When we attend to our own duties and obligations we do not have any time left over to run the business of anyone else. For each of us, living our life is a full-time process, requiring all our energy. 

When we learn to sweep our own porch, and not the porches of others, we will find that more porches are being swept and they are being swept so much cleaner.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" - Luke 6:41.