Opinion


 

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Time enough to fulfil our calling 

Regular contributor Jane Clamp enjoyed her “leap day” last week, but wonders why we always seem to be so short of time.

I’m writing this on February 29, hailed by many as an extra day, a “free day”, a gift of time for which the possibilities are endless. With life hurtling along at an unsustainable pace, I have often wished for more time – and, for once every four years, it seems I have it.
 
In my work as a music teacher, I have heard pupils give many excuses for not practising. The commonest by far is the age-old cry, ‘I didn’t have time.’ I must admit, my response tends to verge on the sarcastic. ‘Oh,’ I exclaim, ‘you poor thing! You must be so hungry, not having time to eat your dinner. And what did everyone say at school when you turned up in your pyjamas because you didn’t have time to get dressed?’ I don’t need to get much further before the penny drops: of course, they had had time to practise. They’d simply spent the time available on something else.
 
I once heard J John give a talk in which he quoted Jesus as saying, ‘I have brought [my Father] glory on earth by finishing the work [He] gave me to do’ (John 17:4). J John then asked, ‘Really? Did Jesus really finish the work God gave Him to do? Surely there was so much more He could have accomplished?’
 
On the surface, we would have to agree. Who knows what else Jesus might have achieved given enough time and opportunity? Or ourselves, for that matter. But Jesus was talking about the specific purpose for His coming – and this He had fulfilled.
 
Viewing it this way knocks our thinking about time on its head -

  • What if we knew exactly what we were here on earth for?
  • What if we spent our time fulfilling that call, instead of chasing our tails and burning the midnight oil doing far too much of everything?
  • What if we could see in 20:20 vision (yes, I’m aware of the pun) what we should agree to do and what we should say no to?

 
Perhaps it’s not more time we need, but more wisdom in how we spend and invest it – on the things for which we, and we alone, have been called.
 
 
The image above is by Nile on pixabay.com
 


 
Jane Clamp author 640CFJane Clamp is the author of Too Soon, a devotional on the subject of miscarriage, published by SPCK in August 2018. A member of the Association of Christian Writers, she writes for local and national radio. In her spare time she is an interior designer and musician.
 
 
 

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