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Time and Eternity

It is the beginning of the last week, the 4th week of Advent.  On this Sunday in Advent, I want you to think/muse with me about Time and Eternity.

Galatians 4:4
4  ...when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 

Luke 2:4-7 
4  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
5  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
7  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Think about this, the plans of God are timeless, therefore eternal.  Yet, we live in time.  We order our lives around time.
Today, seven years ago, my wife and I were surprised by the birth of three Grandchildren - all on this same day - Dec. 18.
Twins came to our Lindsay & Pete in England - Raewyn and Theo.
Chris and Sarah surprised us with a middle of the night phone call that our grandson Leo was born.
It was not a surprise that the three were coming, it was a surprise that all three came on the same day.

Time...we live by it, and we order our lives around it.

Doctor appointment - Wed. at 4:00
Oil Change - Friday at 9:00
Football game - 12 Noon
Taxes - before April 15
Church - Sundays at 9:30 (except today, we've cancelled because of the weather)
Christmas Eve Service - 7:30 pm, Dec. 24
Girls spending the day with Papa and Nana, Wednesday...

We live by time, and we try to keep a handle on our time.  Sometimes it overwhelms us - too many things happening in too short of a "time".  We complain about time - delays, waiting, late, early...etc.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
1  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2  a time to be born and a time to die...


The fact is Time is Not In Our Hands...It is God's.  It was "in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son..."
In other words, just at the right time as God had planned it, he said to the Son, "NOW".

Have you ever heard the saying, "You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"?
Our lives are lived with interruptions and hopefully they are good ones - like today's three grandchildren's birthdays.  But sometimes it's not.  There are those days, the time is interrupted, and something happens we were not ready for - not preparing for - not wanting.  Like the days when our lives are interrupted in our family or with our friends and "it was a time to die".

Here is where our faith kicks in.  Do we believe that time is God's?
Can we focus our attention on God then?
Can we believe He is good, merciful, kind, gracious, loving and all-knowing?
Can we see that our days are meant to be fulfilled in ways that bring meaning to our lives, as well as fulfillment to God's purposes?

Mary knew she was going to have a baby.  Joseph knew they were going to have a baby.  The innkeeper saw that she was going to have a baby.  God chooses this "time" and makes "holy" the time as His Son comes into the world of humans.

May God "interrupt" our times so that we might see Him over and over again.

Peace

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