You know, there’s no TIME like the present, so I have already chosen my epitaph. It ought to go something like this:

Here lies Margaret Tohill;
We hope she’s doing fine;
‘Cause while she lived upon this earth
She wasted an awful lot of time.

I know—the rhyme thing and the meter need a little bit of work, but the sentiment is right on target! How is it that I sleep on average about 5-6 hours a night, yet cannot account for the 18 to 19 waking hours that are left? Just what DID I do today? Well, I did start the day with my devotionals—that’s a big fat 45 minutes to an hour; I MIGHT have gone to school or to Bible Study, or done some grading or preparation—and Heaven knows, I’m pretty sure I might have made the bed….

Actually, when you think about it, TIME is one of God’s benevolent free gifts to all of us. What we do with it—those 24 hours, those 1,440 minutes—is the scary part! The Teacher (probably Solomon) in Ecclesiastes tells us, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven," then even lists twenty-eight of them. AND I couldn’t find "shopping at the mall" anywhere on the list, unless you count "a time to KILL!" I really hate to shop, but took myself to the Dreaded M-place in hopes of finding something to wear that didn’t look like my grandmother’s old clothes or a deal I got at the local Goodwill. By the time I got home, I was depressed, dress-less, and THREE HOURS OLDER than I was when I got there. My first thought was, "I will NEVER go to the mall again!" My second thought was, "Lord, just what am I doing? Am I never weary in well-doing? Do I pray without ceasing? Am I working out my salvation with fear and trembling as You work in me to will and to act according to Your good purpose?" Suddenly, even the Mall Debacle paled in comparison to my monumental sins of Favorite Time-Wasting Things Which Do No One Good. Now, does that mean I need to feel guilty for my private passions—working the NY Times crossword puzzle and reading murder mysteries? Absolutely YES, if I have neglected those things which God has condescended to put in my path that I might serve Him!

The question is usually NOT time—I know God never gives me more than I can do or asks too much of me in the time He has allotted me. Usually, it’s just plain sloth, or disobedience, or self-centeredness, or the "tyranny of the urgent." I don’t know who first coined that phrase, but in my case the tyranny is generally brought on by the Awful P-word—PROCRASTINATION. How can I possibly serve God as He would have me do, if all I do is sit around and complain about "so much to do, so little time?" Oh, Gracious Father, Who never sleeps and indeed is always at His work until this very day (John 5:17), please instill in me a sense of "peaceful urgency" to be ever alert to what You would have me do this very moment!

I always get a little uncomfortable when we lump "Time, Talent, and Treasure" together and talk about the tithe during Stewardship season. I don’t think you can try to give God just 10% of your T,T & T. I get this creepy feeling that, knowing myself as well as I do, I’ll just grab that 90% and run off to eat bonbons and dance the Hokey Pokey and work crosswords. Rather, what better way to start each day than with Christ my Blessed Rock and my Redeemer, submitting all my time, thoughts and actions (AND money matters!) to Him for His loving and divine direction? I am convinced that He is faithful to grant us multitudinous opportunities to serve Him, bringing Himself glory and ourselves uncountable blessings! AND maybe even that He will also squeeze in time for at least the Jumble and the comics!