Marking My Time

November 30, 2015 Year C

Psalm 90:1-17

God is eternal. Humanity is mortal. We have to mark our time on this Earth. Time is a precious resource that we can never get back. So how we mark our time is very important.

Many people mark time by the number of weekends. They work for five days, always looking forward to the weekend. The Bible teaches us to be aware of our time because it comes from God (Psalm 90:1-6).

How we use our time is dependent upon our relationship with God. If we don’t build a relationship, then we encounter His wrath (Psalm 90:7-9). If however, we fear Him by respecting the fact that He is master of my life (Psalm 90:10), our lives will be different.

We enter the Advent season, which marks the beginning of the church year. The church year is a way to mark my time with God as the primary focus (Psalm 90:12).
In our home, the Advent season is special. We celebrate St. Nicolas Day by putting out our shoes and wait for the candy. We use an advent calendar (with chocolate for each day). We decorate the house for the season.

In the regular calendar, we mark time by different cultural celebrations which have little to do with God in my life (New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.) Instead, I can consider marking my time with the church calendar. Advent is the beginning of the church calendar. The four Sundays in Advent (which come before Christmas), show me the importance of Christ and His arrival in my life. Advent means “arrival” and just as I observe His arrival at Christmas, I reflect on what His arrival has done for my life (Psalm 90:14-17).

As I walk through the church year, I mark my time in a different way – I choose to watch God work in my life.

Prayer: Help me to mark my time by watching how You have helped me. Please satisfy me with Your love so that I can be glad all of my days (Psalm 90:14).