Genesis 6:8-9(NLT) tells us, “But Noah found favor with the LORD. This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” This chapter begins by telling us that the population on the earth during the time of Noah had begun to multiply in great numbers. The time between Adam and Noah is believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of 1650 years, and people were living a very long time, long enough to see several generations. So, it would not be too far off to speculate that there were at least a million people living in the earth during this period, and out of the bunch, our Heavenly Father tells us that only one was righteous, and that man was Noah. There were no modern conveniences, and there were very few options for entertainment. This gives us tremendous insight into how we can be manipulated by the enemy, because even when people had so little to interfere with their commitment to God, they still refused to be devoted to Him.
God tells us in Ephesians 5:16-17(NLT), “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” Time is a gift from God. If we’ll give this gift thoughtful consideration, we’ll understand that our God, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and intelligent beyond our comprehension, could have done things any way that He liked. He could have created us in such a way that we would have no concept of the passing of time. We could have existed with absolutely no past and no future, but this was not His desire.
The thing that pleased God was to establish and have a relationship with His children. In this relationship, we walk through time with our hand in His hand, learning to become more and more like His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Time extends to us the element of choice. We get to choose how we transact this most valuable currency. And in our choosing, we are deciding whose side we will be on, the side of Christ or the side of darkness. This choice is ever before us.
Genesis 6:8-9 tells us that Noah walked in close fellowship with God. There is no better statement to be made about a human being in all of eternity. Each of us decides what kind of life we’re going to live, and many of us have gotten to a place in life where we will no longer be guided in correction. We don’t want anyone telling us that our actions are out of step with the love of Christ. Instead, we flock to those who make us comfortable living beneath our privilege. The truth is that our blessings will not rise to a higher level than the standard of Christ we live. This is tough medicine for many to swallow, but we must accept it, because God doesn’t tell us this to make us feel bad. He desires to motivate us to seek, think, speak, and live in a way that proves our faith.
This is one of the reasons why the Apostle Paul told us in Philippians 3:14 that despite all he faced, he pressed toward the mark of the prize of the high call of Jesus Christ. He kept his eyes on the prize as he walked through life, never turning back, but having the full view of the redemption of Christ as his continual motivation. We’re wasting our time looking for the treasures of life outside of our perfect union with Christ. God’s grace sets the pace of our race, and how we respond to His grace sets the pace of rewards that flow into our lives.
We’re not here on this earth to reinvent the wheel, because we can’t. We’re here to follow the pattern that was set by our Master Jesus! We should be using our time to fully comprehend the power of his resurrection so that we can wholeheartedly embrace newness—embrace what Christ accomplished for us on the cross. When it all boils down to it, faith is the revealer of what God has given us with this gift of time. Through His Holy Spirit, God demonstrated for us the dynamic energy of faith when His Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He set Jesus Christ at His right hand, and He put Christ infinitely above everything. Nothing is more superior than him, not in this age or those still to come.
And Ephesians 1:23(NLT) tells us, “And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” God has elevated us! We’re in Christ and Christ is in us! Because of what God has done through His Son, we have a seat at the table; we are seated in Jesus Christ! We are seated together with him, fully clothed in the glory and righteousness of his authority.
With all the extraordinary good things our Heavenly Father has done for us, our good pleasure should be to offer back to Him something wonderful as well. What would that be? Our time is a good place to start. He has gifted time to us, and it is a gift of quality. Why not offer quality time back to Him? It’s the very least we can do. And not only this, it’s one of the best gifts we can extend to ourselves. Every time we posture ourselves to make an offering to Heavenly Father through Christ, heaven and everything beneath it pays attention. We are taking a stand, letting everything in creation know what we are treasuring in our hearts. We avail ourselves to receive from God something we desperately need. So, let’s be sure that we don’t compromise our time with Him, because every moment we spend with God through Jesus Christ makes our journey on this earth sweeter.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Don’t Compromise Your Time with God” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Sundie Morning Sistas is dedicated to spiritual inspiration and encouragement through the Word of God.