September 11, 2004

No Act Of Kindness Is Insignificant

By the time you receive this newsletter, August will knock at our door. Children will head back to school and summer will be waning. Many of us may exclaim, where did the time—or year—go? But that is the paradox: where does time go?

You have probably heard the story that there are 1440 minutes in a day and 525600 minutes in a year. Every morning when you wake up, you have the same time for the day, 1440 minutes. There isn’t a lot written about time because time is a given. Our entire lives are regulated by time. The scripture writer declares God has set our boundaries and numbered our days, but we are not privy to that information. The passage of time and our life is like the opening line of a long running popular TV soap opera: “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives”.

Take a stroll through any cemetery, and all headstones read the same. Of course, some headstones are larger than others, some are very elaborate and ornate, and some are quite plain. But they all say the same thing. For example: here lies James Smyth, born Jan 1 1897 died May 29th 1984. But who was James Smyth? What do we know about him? We know he lived for 87 years. If we examine the headstone, we might see a military emblem, a Masonic emblem, an Elk emblem, or other carvings that may tell us he was a Christian, father, husband, farmer, a horse lover, and so forth. Historically, using the example of James Smyth, we know he lived through the great depression, two world wars, social upheavals and change. But we still do not know who James Smyth was. What we know is that he was born and that he died; we know little about what lied in between!

The phrase “and it came to pass” is found 396 times in the Bible. Every time we find the phrase, it denotes a period of time has elapsed and something has happened. Remember Joseph and how great he was? Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph (Ex 1:8). In time people forgot Joseph: And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by the bondage (Ex. 2:23). The Egyptian bondage lasted 400 years, yet all the scripture tells us about this long period is the Hebrews were afflicted and suffered and cried out to God for deliverance..

Most people, if asked to describe their life, will describe it in terms of events: I graduated from High School, then from college, I married Susie Someone; we had 12 children; I worked for Pickajob, and so forth. Few people would describe their life in terms of what happened in-between these events. Think of your life thus far. I recall when my mother turned 80 years old I asked her how it felt to be 80? She said she didn’t know other than “where has all the time gone?” “It seems like only yesterday I WAS A KID!”

What lies in-between the chief points of one’s life really shapes a person and that’s what really counts. Most people see us in the everyday mundane events of life and living day to day. Yet that is where our greatest testimony lies. Paul tells Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1Tim.4:12). Paul is saying live every day as an example for God. Not just in the important moments of your life, but in your everyday conduct—because God is watching you. And if you think what you do is meaningless, hear the Words of Jesus: “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink because he is a disciple, I solemnly tell you he will not lose his reward”(Mat.10:42 ). Give someone a cool drink of water this week.