Time and Twenty-Twelve

It never speeds up. It never slows down. Time is constant: steadily constraining our lives in this world, yet unceasingly bringing us closer to the end.


To us, time is just a measurement—it passes in minutes, hours, days, and years; but we live day to day subconscious of its passing. To us, time is eternal—it's all we have ever known; but we don't often think about the fact that we are only given a short allotment of it. Forgetting its brevity, we readily spend our time on meaninglessness pastimes, using it on whatever seems best at the moment. But are our lives to be spent away moment by moment? Will we use our time with a "present" purpose only? When we live for the "here and now," we forget that time had a beginning, and it will one day have an end. We forget that time is precious.


Of course, it's much more pleasant to live as if we had "all the time in the world." We dream; we scheme; we plan our lives away because we don't want to admit that we have no control over our lives at all. Yet, we are surprised when things don't work out like we'd planned them; we complain when we don't have "enough" time. Although time never changes, it always seems to "fly by" faster than we expected it to.


Time is temporary, limited to this earth. Even so, it is so easy to view our lives in the span and sequence of time alone. We see our past as years gone by and our futures as simply more years to come. It's the mentality of "this year is gone and over, but—hey!—I'll have next year!" But God says, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14). We can't count on tomorrow, or next week, or next year. 


But, what if our lives were about more than...our lives? What if we were created for a greater purpose that totally exceeds the boundaries of time? What if the little bit of time we have could have eternal significance?


I want to challenge you (and myself!) to view this new year like you've never viewed it before. Although there's nothing wrong with New Year's resolutions (in fact, they're great), I don't want to get so caught up with "right now" that I completely miss the eternal perspective on my life. Today is more than today. Next year is more than next year. Our lives were created to have an eternal impact!


So let's make our resolutions; let's look forward to a fresh start. But let's keep in mind that 2012 is more than eating right, reading more books, getting better grades, losing weight, or whatever resolutions you may have. 2012 is a year of purpose. God put you in this world in this decade for a purpose! Let's use our time on stuff that really matters, on things that will count in the end. 


If your life purpose exceeds the limitations of time, then it doesn't matter when it ends. What matters is how it counts.

Lord, teach me to number my days,

That I may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

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Beautifully Incomprehensible

This was the moment. The moment the world had been waiting for. All of History had been scripted for this one moment. Every prior event was played to set the stage, to build and lead to the climax of this beautiful story. Though through the ages, many wonderful stories have been crafted and retold, none can compare with the beauty of this story—the Advent of the Savior.


"Though he was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,"
Jesus—the infinite, eternal God—did not hold on to His heavenly, glorious position as God. Although He didn't become less of God, He gave up all of heaven's glories to come down to earth.

"but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."
I will never conceive how much Jesus gave up when He became a man. It is too great to fathom. He was the Creator of the universe, yet He lowered Himself to become a human. Truly beautiful.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Not only did Jesus give up all of heaven, He gave up His life. He willingly traded His righteousness for our filthiness. A beautiful exchange, indeed.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
God valued His glorious, righteous name so much that He was willing to kill His own Son to justify sinners. Jesus' birth and death is more than our salvation—it's God's declaration to the world that He Is Righteous.


We hear this story every year. And in the midst of the rush, the hustle, the bustle of the season, it's easy not to hear it at all. I don't ever want this story to become too familiar to me. This story is the beauty of the gospel and the glory of God. It may be incomprenehensible to our small minds, but it is beautiful.


The most beautiful story was written by God Himself.

Philippians 2:6-11


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A Peace Offering

So in case you haven't noticed, I haven't been a very good blogger. Sorry, guys. Last year of high school + college planning stuff = a very busy me.

As a peace offering for my lack of posting, please accept (and watch) this awesome rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas." You'll seriously love it.





I hope you all are having a blessed Christmas season!!!
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