It's Later Than You Think

I was reading a devotional this morning that really touched base with me. I'd like to share some of it with you. The writer, Luci Swindoll, said when she was a child, her family had a chiming clock that had been handed down through the generations, a well loved treasure. This clock chime kept them on schedule with everyday routines, like meal time, wake up time, and bedtime. Many nights, from their respective bedrooms each member of the family would call out the number of chimes until the last one stopped.

One night, after all had gone to bed about midnight, the clock began to gong and they started counting: "Nine....ten....eleven....twelve." Just as they shouted TWELVE! the clock struck thirteen. They could hardly believe their ears. Where on earth did that come from? Then in perfect unison, they all called out: "It's later than you think!"

Isn't that a problem for many of us? We are always running out of time. We hurry through life trying to get everything done: working over time, eating fast food in the car, racing down the highway. We've all studied Time Management along with Multi Tasking. Everyday chores encourage us to hurry. We can do our laundry twice as fast as our grandmothers did; We can travel coast to coast faster than our ancestors every dreamed; Even a simple handwritten letter that use to take hours to write can now be done with a few keystrokes and the press or a button or the click of the mouse. And yet, we seem to have less time than our grandparents did. What has happened?

In our journey to save time, we're losing something important, the value of time. Our grandparents always had time for our parents as well as the grandchildren; They emphasized family meal time with beautifully served meals, they had time for family reunions setting under the shad trees having long conversations and thoroughly enjoying each others company. They had time for everything in life that was important, because they took time to live.....

Let today be the very day, do something that takes a bit of extra time to do and do it. Do it for yourself. Do it for a family member. Do it for a neighbor or friend. Do it for the Lord.....Don't wait for another time. Rejoice in this day and be glad! Tonight, your clock could strike thirteen.

Whenever you find yourself in a hurry, bring this Scripture to mind, and rejoice in the Lord!

   "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm 118:24