Borrowed Time

For everything there is a season, and a

time for every matter under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Like you, I have often heard the phrase “living on borrowed time.” We think of someone who survived a tragedy that should have ended in death yet that person walked away. We think of a friend or relative who had a massive heart attack and should have died yet to the surprise of a myriad of medical personnel, they survived. We think of someone who has battled cancer and survived over and over and over and we say—living on borrowed time.

But in reality, each of us lives on time borrowed from our Heavenly Father. He placed us right where we are for a season, a purpose, a reason, and when our purpose has been fulfilled, He will call us back to Himself and we will stand before Him to give an account of how we used our precious borrowed time.

Some live decades of time; some only hours or days. Yet even the infant who comes and goes quickly on this earth has fulfilled God’s plan for that tiny life. 

Time is a blessing! We cannot afford to take one moment for granted. Satan will try to lull you into thinking that there is plenty of time to accomplish God’s plan for your life—to live like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind and to “think about it tomorrow.” 

But tomorrow may not come. Like thousands who went to work in New York City on September 11th expecting the day to progress normally, this day could be your last—my last.

What is on your “bucket list?” Does it include a list of souls you would like to see brought into the Kingdom of God? Pray for the opportunity to invest in the lives of those people. Do you desire to travel? Don’t forget the clerk in the store, the cab driver, the single mother struggling with luggage and three small children—she might need Jesus! 

I need to improve on my use of time—laying aside the superficial and looking ahead to the “mark of the high calling” that God places on the lives of His children. What will you do while you are living on borrowed time?

©Joyce Powell