Dear Cornerstone family,
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” When I first read that sentence, almost nine years ago, it stopped me in my tracks. It’s a line from Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life in a section where she acknowledges that calendars and schedules have the power to shield us from wasting our days–– that is, our lives––on whims and impulses. Dillard says calendaring time is “...net for catching days...a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.”
I love the image because it’s counterintuitive to how we tend to think. For instance, we say we’re “free” when nothing is scheduled. And that is true in a way of speaking. But Dillard recognizes that “free time” is when we most often waste time; when time disappears into oblivion, and we experience a sense of loss. “Where did the time go?”
As the Lord would have it, I am typing this from my home office. Just outside my door, I heard a member of my family say, “I feel like my whole day is gone!” It’s 12:56 p.m. right now. The day is certainly not gone. But this week-between-Christmas-and-New Year, nothing-on-the-calendar-kind-of-morning has made said family member feel like their day has been a waste.
Ever been there? Sure, we’ve all had days like that. To be honest, we need a day or two like that every now and again so we can repent and be reminded why calendaring time can help us redeem the day.
I used the word redeem for a reason. You see, calendaring time is not the point. We can calendar a day of binging on Netflix and do ourselves no good. The more important question is what are you going to calendar? In the limited amount of time you have, what are you going to prioritize on your calendar?
Some of you are anticipating me, “I know, I need to manage my time better this year. Got it, Pastor.” Well, not exactly. Never in Scripture are we called to manage time. Do you know why? Time is not ours to manage! God owns time; he created it. All of our days are in his hands (Psalm 31:5).
Instead, we are called to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:15-16; Colossians 4:5). Time is a gift from God to be used for the purpose he gives it. Therefore, we aren’t to live like fools squandering time because time is not ours. Rather, we are to approach each day as a precious gift from God redeeming the time with godly work and rest.
If you do not usually look back on your year and consider “how you spent your days,” let me encourage you to do so. Take time to consider your days. How were they redeemed? How were they squandered? Take it all to the Lord. As you turn the page on another year, lay your past and future at God’s feet and commit afresh to receive each day of 2023 as a gift from God’s hand to be redeemed.
Your servant,
