Calendar Countdown

In a normal summer, with three weeks of our basketball camp , each 75 minutes is 1% of the total time. Our minds sometimes calculate everything to make life manageable. This is from September 12, 2012.

As I was driving home from school this afternoon, I did a mental count and realized we had just concluded our eighteenth day of school. When you are on a state mandated calendar of one hundred eighty days of school, even a non-math guy like me can figure this out- we are ten per cent finished with the 2012-2013 school year. That hardly seems possible! I've just finished confidently assigning a name to all the new faces in my class and identifying which student belongs in which period. Only one hundred sixty-two days left. The question remains eternally the same: How will I spend those days?

Ten per cent... a tithe of the school year! I've found most kids don't know the meaning of tithing as it's probably not taught much in churches any more. I read a great illustration today linking God's promise in Malachi 3 (testing Him by bringing the tithe to the Lord and not having enough room for the blessings) and John 21 where the resurrected Jesus told the fishing apostles to throw the net out on the boat's right side. As in the Malachi reference, the overwhelming nature of the result, fish in this instance, was directly linked to faith in doing what they were told. My problem is not so much money which I don't worry about. I struggle with my selfish nature and the concept of spending time in the pursuit of righteousness. I'm always afraid I will run our of hours. I hoard them like some of the pack rat folks you see on those television shows. (The worst I ever saw was on a CSI episode- I couldn't watch it!) But if God promises  blessings for the generosity with money, will He not do the same for our expenditures of time? Will He be pleased with me if I squander the remaining days allotted on the basketball court and in my classroom with those He has placed in my keeping for the remaining eight months? We can't bank the hours; no return with interest if we save them up like some calendar-driven 401K. Ten per cent; eight years of a life, one hundred forty-four minutes of a day, and eighteen days of a school year. The Lord is testing me.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Our love for God is tested by the question of whether we seek Him or His gifts."
Ralph W. Sockman 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com