A Time to be Born and a Time to Die: Reflections on Time and Eternity

Time, that fleeting commodity that holds us while on this earth! Yet we can’t hold onto it! And for all of us, time is ticking away. We are closer to the end of our earthly journey every second that we live.

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For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die…
A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a,4a (NLT)

Time, that fleeting commodity that holds us while on this earth! Yet. we can’t hold onto it! And for all of us, time is ticking away. We are closer to the end of our earthly journey every second that we live.

Having walked in recent years with loved ones in their last earthly days, I can’t help but reflect on the value of my own days as they unfold. I want to live while I’m alive….the life I have, not the one I wish I had; not by my own self-determination and self-indulgence, but by the Spirit of my indwelling God who lives, loves, and serves through me, as me, as I let him. Then when I come to the end of my allotted days, I will have “served God’s purpose in my generation.” (Acts 13:36)

I love how Bible teacher Jill Briscoe puts it:

“When you know Jesus, you let Him wind your watch. When it stops, He gives you a new one with everlasting springs!”

What a blessed Hope is ours who belong to Jesus for time and eternity! And so I am grateful for the gift of each day and the hope I have of a new “watch” with those “everlasting springs” when my “earthly timepiece” wears out.

How about you, my friend? Do you have that blessed hope for time and eternity in Christ? Do you value the days of the life you have? Do you live them, or rather let HIM live them through you, with all your might … for His pleasure and purpose while you have life and breath?

Lord, may this ever be so for each of us! In Jesus’ most glorious name. Amen.

When … the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

…But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:54-58 ESV

Featured Image By Ravi Roshan

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About the Author

Jan Loyd is a child of God, a disciple of Christ, a Jersey girl, a former nun, a teacher, and now a wife of 48 years, mother of two, grandmother of 5 boys and finally a baby girl...these are just some of the hats she wears or has worn. Her hat as teacher has seemed to be one she’s worn her entire adult life, ranging from teaching elementary school, homeschool, adult ESOL and GED language and writing. But along with all of these opportunities has been her favorite above all the rest: teaching women the Word of God in various ways, Precept Upon Precept and Bible Studies she’s developed by the grace and tutelage of God along the way. The heart of the message that she delights to share is that we are in union with the Living God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Currently you may find her on her devotional blog “A Branch in the Vine” where she shares several times a week and in her Bible Study/ devotional book The With-ness of our God: Relationship in Every Dimension.