“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11
Dear Ones:
How important is a day, and how is it’s worth measured in the eyes of God? First of all, we see that God created it. “And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.” (Gen. 1:4) We also discover in Scripture, that we, as a part of His creation, are to “…rejoice and be glad in it (the day).” (Ps. 118:24) Why is this so? It is because of God’s intent, and purpose. Time began when He created the day and the night. For man, time is a measure of both an opportunity and responsibility towards God. It is also the provision of God by which He chooses to bless man. The question then becomes, “How important is a day, and how are we to live it?”
In Moses’ great prayer in Psalm 90, he prays: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (v.12) He prays this because he, as well as every other believer, needs to be taught by God how to live, and use the time, the days which God gives. Moses goes on to write: “Satisfy us early with your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (v.14) Essential to the proper use of our days is the joy and strength which the Lord provides. There is no possible way to truly redeem time, and rightly use our days, except by the wisdom that God gives in response to prayer, and the joyful strength He provides.
In Jesus’ parable of the talents, found in Matthew’s gospel, we find that a certain time had been given to the servants of the master for them to use wisely and well the resources he had entrusted to them. In this case, the master took a trip into a far country for a long time, i.e. he gave to them many “days” to trade with his goods, in order to make more. Two of the servants took the goods of the master, “….went and traded with the same,” thus gaining at least 100% of the original value of goods. They embraced the opportunity, realizing something of the responsibility and privilege of serving the master in this way. In other words, they used well, wisely, and faithfully, the “day,” or days, that were entrusted to them.
Perhaps one of the saddest, and most regrettable, testimonies to a wasted life and opportunity, is found in another illustration that the Lord Jesus gave His disciples. Again, the story has to do with the comparison between the faithful, wise servant, and the “evil” servant, who was not looking for the soon return of his master. The faithless servant believed that this absence of the master gave him license to deal wrongly with other servants of the master, even striking them. He would “eat and drink with the drunken,” thus, wasting time and the opportunity to serve his master. The basic reason for this was that in his heart, there was no faith or true allegiance to the master, for he was declared by the Lord to be “evil.” What about the Christian who has not watched over his worship of the Lord Jesus, reading and studying His word, and being prayerful? This one will certainly lose the clear vision of the Master, and the remembrance of things as they truly exist from Heaven’s standpoint. This Christian will also waste the opportunity, for he shall not live a responsible, wise, life, using well that which has been entrusted to him. If he will be fruitful, being faithful and wise, then he must redeem the time, and use well the day.
How then do we redeem the time, and the day? It begins by true, specific prayer. Moses was very precise in what he asked the Lord, as he knew from experience what was needful. He would ask for the knowledge of God’s works, and His revealed glory. He would reclaim the blessing, thus the beauty of the Lord upon “us.” And lastly, twice he would ask for the establishment of “our” works. (Ps. 90:17)
Dear Father, Feed us today that we might live for Thy glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad