The most consistent barometer of wealth in the Old Testament was land. It was so important to the family economy that every fifty years, called the Year of Jubilee, all land was returned to the original family who owned it. If someone sold land a few years before Jubilee, they were given less for it since it would soon return to the family. If land were sold thirty years before Jubilee, they would get substantially more because the buyer would have more time to add to his Return on Investment (ROI).
Many people today invest in land for the simple reason, “They will never make any more of it.” This seems logical. It will always be that way. However, there is another commodity whose amount is also fixed, and that is time. It is amazing how people who would not dare waste a financial penny waste days and days of time.
Matthew 7:6 gives us a stern warning by using very graphic metaphors: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Holy in this context can mean many things. For instance, it could be the gospel. While we want to share the gospel with unbelievers, we don’t want to push it into the face of those who become violent in opposition. The pearl of the gospel is not to be given when it is obvious it will be trampled underfoot on by those who are hearing it.
Although few people realize it, time is a holy thing, being a gift from the Father. Instead of stewarding it properly, we too can throw it before the swine of excessive social media, mindless video clips, internet surfing, video games, worthless reading, etc. It was consistently reported how Apple found Steve Jobs strictly limited his own children’s exposure to iProducts even as Christian parents gave little oversight or restrictions. It should give us pause to consider.
In the late 1800’s, 85% of time was spent on mere survival, supplying food and clothing for the winter months ahead. God has greatly increased the wealth in America so that this type of thinking is completely foreign to us. This has created a very oxymoronic paradox. While we have more free time than ever before, we also have more time wasters than ever before. Sadly, time is not like money; we do not have “disposable” time. It keeps clicking away every day at the same rate regardless of how we use it.
This is not to suggest that we should be running as fast as we can 24/7. God has built rest into His economy from the Sabbath day to the Sabbath Year when the ground was given a year off to recuperate. Recreation—re-create—is also a part of His design. Still, we are given some strong reminders that God will demand an account of how we spent the time, gifts, and other resources allotted to us on earth. That is a sobering thought.
We all have the same number of hours on the calendar. Each day is like a necklace with 24 precious pearls strung together. Will we treat them as a holy gift from God or will we trample them under foot in a self-absorbed culture who wants to satisfy self more than glorify God?
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