Covenant Church

Robert Frost penned the famous lines "Miles to go before I sleep." He sensed urgency. He believed time is a commodity. Time is like money in that if Time is spent wisely, it produces good results. If Time is spent foolishly, then it purchases disaster.

"The Year of 2008 has flown by," is a comment frequently heard. It does seem so. It seems impossible that we are nearing the finish line of 2008.

Fact is that the hands of the clock are moving no faster now than they did in ancient times when there were no clocks. Time is Time. It is one second at a time.

Supposedly atomic clocks are micro-timed to be exact. Other clocks have to be adjusted micro seconds each year.

Measuring Time is man's challenge, not God's. Man seeks to find his finiteness in an infinite eternity. The Omnipotent God sits upon the throne of eternity. He is Eternity. He made Eternity. There are no clocks in Heaven.

Man pushes himself to discover. Man is ever drawn close to the intimate nature of his physical senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. These five seem to be the biggest doors of temptation for man.

In all this collage of struggles Man tends to forget the call of his soul. God has breathed into every man soul. No soul, no man. No man, no soul. Man and soul are one. Where there is no soul, there is only lifeless clay. "Behold, all souls are mine" (Ezekiel 18), God says.

Soul is the eternal part of man. Flesh will decay. Sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell will pass away as we know them. However, the soul never dies.

In the miles to go before we sleep it is critically important that we assess and prioritize what is truly valuable. This week I visited my 104-year- old friend, Irene Crews. She is healthy. In fact, she went Christmas shopping. Takes little medicine. Mind is keen. Her talk is about God, His goodness, His love, and her hope to spend eternity with God. First things first, Irene reminds me to keep first things first. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

The clock will keep on ticking. The second hand will make minutes, and the minutes will make hours. There will be beautiful things to see (my wife), music to be heard, pleasant things to touch, wonderful foods to eat, and pleasant aromas to be sensed. For all of these godly experiences I am grateful. I am grateful for life. I am grateful for a full life. I am grateful for blessings undeserved. I am grateful for opportunities beyond my childhood dreams.

But the miles keep adding up. You must join me in the adventure of making sure that the Story of Jesus is not just a novelty or curiosity. You must join me in visiting Jesus, sharing in His Birth, His Life, His Death, His Resurrection, and His Coming Again. You must hold me accountable and encourage me, as I encourage you, to be faithful, to be careful, to make haste, to invest Time wisely, and to spend most of my time and energy on my soul, not the five senses.

We hear the tick of that clock. Every second brings me closer to my destiny. We must hasten together to kneel, to present ourselves as gifts to Jesus, to pledge our faith, to pledge our love, and to unite in labor to share this joy with others.

We must agree that while the world is running away to celebrate "Happy Holidays" we will loudly proclaim: "Merry Christmas!"

This we know: Time will pass. It is our choice how to spend time. We choose Jesus to be our total investment, believing that in eternity only Jesus can pay dividends!

Merry Christmas...travel safely and invest wisely before you sleep.

Pastor Bare

Mark 8:35