The Upper Room Daily Devotionals in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "What Time Is It?" for Sunday, 1 January 2017 with Scripture: Matthew 24:32 “Now let the fig tree teach you its lesson: when its branches begin to sprout and leaves appear, you know that summer is approaching. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you are to know that the time is near, right at the door. 34 Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
36 “But when that day and hour will come, no one knows — not the angels in heaven, not the Son, only the Father. 37 For the Son of Man’s coming will be just as it was in the days of Noach. 38 Back then, before the Flood, people went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, right up till the day Noach entered the ark; 39 and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes. 40 Then there will be two men in a field — one will be taken and the other left behind. 41 There will be two women grinding flour at the mill — one will be taken and the other left behind. 42 So stay alert, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But you do know this: had the owner of the house known when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you too must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him.
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Teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.[Psalm 90:12 (NRSV)]
A new year makes me acutely conscious of the passage of time: how we allow calendars and clocks to dominate us, how there is never enough time for what we need or want to do. It reminds me how time changes some things but not others. Time helps heal grief and softens memories of old conflicts and wounds, but the mere passage of time does not strengthen marriage, friendship, or character.
A new year reminds us that God’s time is different from ours. Galatians 4:4 says, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,” but we do not know God’s future timetable. Some people try to predict the world’s end or say we are living in “end times,” but in today’s reading Jesus reminds us that only God knows what the future holds.
The best New Year’s resolution I can make is to appreciate each day God gives me, to become a better steward of my time, and to grow to be more Christlike — the better to serve God.
The Author: Gus Browning (Texas, USA)
Thought for the Day: How will I resolve to serve God this year?
Prayer: Eternal God, teach us to use our days to “gain a wise heart.” Amen.
Prayer focus: To be a better steward of my time
A new year makes me acutely conscious of the passage of time: how we allow calendars and clocks to dominate us, how there is never enough time for what we need or want to do. It reminds me how time changes some things but not others. Time helps heal grief and softens memories of old conflicts and wounds, but the mere passage of time does not strengthen marriage, friendship, or character.
A new year reminds us that God’s time is different from ours. Galatians 4:4 says, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,” but we do not know God’s future timetable. Some people try to predict the world’s end or say we are living in “end times,” but in today’s reading Jesus reminds us that only God knows what the future holds.
The best New Year’s resolution I can make is to appreciate each day God gives me, to become a better steward of my time, and to grow to be more Christlike — the better to serve God.
The Author: Gus Browning (Texas, USA)
Thought for the Day: How will I resolve to serve God this year?
Prayer: Eternal God, teach us to use our days to “gain a wise heart.” Amen.
Prayer focus: To be a better steward of my time
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