"The Treasure of Time"

by Pastor Ben Dolby

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases. – Psalm 103:2-3

I believe many of us have heard the metaphor, “Time is a thief.” I am equally confident that many of us have heard the opposite sentiment, “Time is a gift.”

Both expressions resonate in my life. The further I get into the year of confirmation instruction, the passage of time in Holy Scripture as well as Luther’s Small Catechism with my second-year students “feels” like it is speeding by quicker than I would prefer. It indeed feels like time is being stolen away!

However, I have a great sense of relief for February this year compared to last year. There is time to “breathe” before the penitential season of Lent begins this year…at least from my subjective point of view! Lent began very early last year, on February 14, to be exact. Lent will begin this year on March 5. It may only be a matter of two and a half more weeks, but I “feel” like I have time to prepare for Lent with a few more Sundays after The Epiphany this year.

The important question then rises: What am I going to do with this extra time provided by the Author and Perfector of faith? How can you and I bring glory to God in the treasure of time in our lives – before, during, and after the Lenten journey on the near horizon?

Our monthly memory work of Psalm 103:2-3 is a wonderful way to begin glorifying God with this treasure of time. Bear with me as I offer a Track and Field illustration on this point.

When I was a bit younger and much more flexible, my favorite part of being a Track and Field Athlete in middle-school through college was when I got the hang of the starting blocks. Any of the races that were 400 meters or less included this fantastic contraption that a runner would use to help them blast out of the start of a race, low and explosive!

However, these starting blocks only benefited the runner if they took their time to get settled in properly. When the race official calmly spoke in the bullhorn, “Runners take your mark…” you had a brief amount of time to 1) stretch and get some wiggles out, 2) carefully crouch into a kneeling stance, 3) take calming breaths while you carefully placed your running shoes (with spikes on the bottom if you really knew what you were doing) on the starting blocks, 4) carefully place your fingers and hands behind the starting line of your assigned lane, 5) and … wait… I LOVED this time of anticipation.

Once every runner was set and motionless, the race official would calmly say, “SET” and you would have to raise your body into a ready position and through discipline and practice wait for the starting gun.

So often, the race would be over before I knew it. This is why I loved the preparation for a race as much as the race itself. I believe God made it clear to me from a very young age how fortunate I was to have my health.  I never suffered through any physical inabilities; so it was always on my mind what a treasure it was to be able to move, walk, run, and experience the thrill of competition. Even the time of waiting before a race was a thrill to me!

Having time to reflect on Psalm 103 again, I see how I was afforded time, even as a young athlete, to praise God by taking the time to use the abilities he had provided to appreciate those experiences, including times to wait in prayer and contemplation. I am still learning how to be patient, slow down, and be thankful for the Treasure of Time afforded by our Maker and Redeemer.

Every day we are afforded the treasure of time to meditate on what the gift of this present day as well as what is just ahead of us. Like a Track and Field athlete is afforded time to carefully prepare in their starter blocks, we have time to carefully prepare for the month of February as well as the Church Seasons ahead of us, in the months to come.

As we 1) stretch and wake up in the morning may we, 2) carefully kneel in prayer with humility in our hearts, 3) taking calming breaths to focus on our Maker and Redeemer, 4) carefully placing our body, mind, and soul on the promises he desires to give us in his Holy Word, and give thanks as we 5) wait for what he provides in our daily bread: There is so much he provides in this Treasure of Time. The Psalmist blesses us with the wisdom to slow down and marvel at God’s forgiveness and grace toward us, in Jesus Christ alone. This is an excellent way to bring glory to God from the starting blocks each morning.

Prayer for February: Merciful God, it is impossible to count how many times we need your forgiveness. Day after day, we need your pardon and grace. Thank you for sending our iniquities to the cross, where Jesus takes the anger and gives us compassion instead. Bless the LORD, O my soul! In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

In Christ,

Pastor Dolby