CrossTalk: May Jesus fill your time in 2025

 

Time is a precious commodity. It is always slipping away. And you never know how much more you will be given.

Incredible amounts of our energy go into planning for the future. But sudden death—accidents, strokes, heart attacks—bring all those plans to nothing. Now the passage of time means the inexorable march to death.

So, James teaches: "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15).

The more we meditate on our short time, the wiser we become. The Psalmist prays, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90). So, let’s begin 2025 with a meditation on time.

Time was the very first creation of God. “In the beginning, God created...” Genesis 1:1). There was no beginning before THE beginning. And without a beginning, there is no ending. God is timeless, but His creation is not.

Time is a created thing. That means that time is not evil. Rather, God said, “It is very good!” Time is not our problem. Sin is our problem. Death is not the inevitable result of time. Death is the result of sin.

Before sin entered into the world, time was a march toward growth and maturity. Only now, has it become a march toward death and disintegration. And there is nothing--absolutely nothing that you can do to stop it.

But because of Jesus, time has been redeemed. It has been returned to a good and godly gift. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

On the first Christmas, God entered fully into time while remaining fully God. The Creator of time subjected Himself to time-wrought change while remaining unchangeable.

When Jesus enters into time, time itself becomes a vehicle of salvation. Time, rather than being drained out like an hour-glass, is filled like a wine-glass. Rather than being a bringer of death, time itself has become a bringer of life.

That’s the importance of the New Testament word, “NOW.” Now, everything is changed. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).

Jesus is the “Fullness of Time.” Jesus is the reason time was created. And Jesus is the content of heavenly time.

For you, that means that when Christ fills your time, time is FULLY-filled. Every moment in Christ is a blessing. Every moment in Christ is a moment in the salvation He is for you--salvation from sin, from death, from the devil.

And Christ has come to you in time--in this moment. When you take up the Word of God, Christ is coming to you in time. It’s not just that He came to the world 2025 years ago. But that He still comes in time and place to save you. Right now, the Word of God is happening to you. Christ is filling this time.

May Jesus fill your days in 2025. For when Christ fills your days by His Word, your days are fulfilled in Him.