NEWSPAPER COLUMN FOR MARCH 2
MetamoraPatter
THE THOUSAND YEAR DAY
BY PAT GULLEY
2 Pet 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (KJV)
The passing of time seems like an illusive theory. I remember when I was a kid; it seemed to be eons of time from one birthday to the next. And the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to take forever. When I complained that time was passing way too slowly, my Dad would smile and say, “Just wait until you get older. Time will go faster then.” Well, I must be older because now time seems to fly by. I used to think of time in days, then weeks, then months, then years. But now I seem to recall events in 10-year spans.
The days we are given to live on this earth can be treated with respect or can be wasted away. One phrase you will never hear me say when someone asks me what I am doing is to answer, “killing time.” I have replaced the work ‘kill’ with the word ‘fill’. I happen to believe it is much better to “fill time” than to kill it.
Moses is the recognized author of Psalm 90. I believe this is where the Apostle Peter got his insight into the saying, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Moses wrote in verse 4.
Ps 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (KJV)
I am intrigued by the phrase Moses added to ‘a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday’, when he wrote,’ WHEN IT IS PAST’. Time in its future tense often seems so very far away. We can talk about the return of Jesus in the near future or even any day, and it may still seem a very long time away. But when we talk about time gone by, it can seem as if it were but yesterday. Some people can remember 50 years ago and recall every word that was said and every person who said those words.
We can pull up memories from different stages of our lives, and they often seem so fresh we can smell the smells and feel the emotions. The good times and the bad times get all melded together in the recesses of our minds and if we are not careful, they can drag us back to those times and cause our angers or our loves or hates or resentments to take us captive all over again. As Christians we must recognize this fact of life and learn to let those thousand-year days stay in the past.
The older we get, the fewer days we have ahead of us to dwell on this earth and to walk with the Lord in the battlefield of faith. There will be no devil in heaven to resist and to defeat. There will be no lost people with whom to share the good news of the love of God as revealed in John 3:16. No one will pass from our lives causing the tears to flow down our checks and to have the Lord wipe those same tears from our eyes. In Heaven the angels will always be singing the praises of God and so will we. But today in this earth it is our time to sing to the LORD and to Thank Him for His Mercy and Grace. And it is the day and the time to be a living, breathing, witness to others that God is faithful to His Word and to the World. God still loves the world and His Son is Proof. AMEN
THE THOUSAND YEAR DAY
BY PAT GULLEY
2 Pet 3:8
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (KJV)
The passing of time seems like an illusive theory. I remember when I was a kid; it seemed to be eons of time from one birthday to the next. And the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to take forever. When I complained that time was passing way too slowly, my Dad would smile and say, “Just wait until you get older. Time will go faster then.” Well, I must be older because now time seems to fly by. I used to think of time in days, then weeks, then months, then years. But now I seem to recall events in 10-year spans.
The days we are given to live on this earth can be treated with respect or can be wasted away. One phrase you will never hear me say when someone asks me what I am doing is to answer, “killing time.” I have replaced the work ‘kill’ with the word ‘fill’. I happen to believe it is much better to “fill time” than to kill it.
Moses is the recognized author of Psalm 90. I believe this is where the Apostle Peter got his insight into the saying, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Moses wrote in verse 4.
Ps 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (KJV)
I am intrigued by the phrase Moses added to ‘a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday’, when he wrote,’ WHEN IT IS PAST’. Time in its future tense often seems so very far away. We can talk about the return of Jesus in the near future or even any day, and it may still seem a very long time away. But when we talk about time gone by, it can seem as if it were but yesterday. Some people can remember 50 years ago and recall every word that was said and every person who said those words.
We can pull up memories from different stages of our lives, and they often seem so fresh we can smell the smells and feel the emotions. The good times and the bad times get all melded together in the recesses of our minds and if we are not careful, they can drag us back to those times and cause our angers or our loves or hates or resentments to take us captive all over again. As Christians we must recognize this fact of life and learn to let those thousand-year days stay in the past.
The older we get, the fewer days we have ahead of us to dwell on this earth and to walk with the Lord in the battlefield of faith. There will be no devil in heaven to resist and to defeat. There will be no lost people with whom to share the good news of the love of God as revealed in John 3:16. No one will pass from our lives causing the tears to flow down our checks and to have the Lord wipe those same tears from our eyes. In Heaven the angels will always be singing the praises of God and so will we. But today in this earth it is our time to sing to the LORD and to Thank Him for His Mercy and Grace. And it is the day and the time to be a living, breathing, witness to others that God is faithful to His Word and to the World. God still loves the world and His Son is Proof. AMEN
posted by Metamora Patter at 3/02/2005 11:56:00 AM
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