Time

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:8-15 New International Version (NIV) We are timekeepers. We have clocks and watches and all sorts of things we use to count minutes as we watch them turn into days. Since God created time for us through the elements of the earth like the sun and the moon, He doesn't need to keep it like we do. He is timeless. "A day is like a thousand years" to Him. Patience is a virtuous fruit of the spirit because for one thing, it helps us as we wait on a clock we cannot control. God is taking His time and being patient with us because He is giving us time. It's been quite a while since Jesus came to redeem us, so maybe it is we who are slowing things up. Thank You, Lord, for Your patience! As we wait, we must never lose sight that the time will come when the world as it is will come to a screeching halt. Thieves and burglars do not usually announce their arrival and this is the description of how the day of the Lord will occur. Certainly, God knows when enough is enough and since He knows everything, the time He has determined as being enough is already slated to happen. Maybe Jesus knows by now but He didn't when He walked among us (Matthew 24:36). He left those who believed with instructions to be prepared all of the time because He left the earth with a open-ended roundtrip ticket and He will be back to finish His mission when we least expect it. The bottom line: Get ready! Eternal life is on the other side of the end of this time. “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. . . .So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24:35-36, 42 NLT