In 1977 a teenage member of my church, turned around in her pew on a Sunday morning. Facing me, she asked if I had ever written a poem on “Time”, because that was her class assignment. That afternoon I wrote this:
Time
Time is an imitator of tomorrow and today,
with a universal setting in an intricate way.
Time is eternity, which never passes by,
an infinite life for every soul,
with mercy from on high.
Influenced by principalities, time is a spiritual host,
every human being must reveal his uttermost.
Time is forever, a necessity of life,
and the final destiny of human strife.
We read in Ecclesiastes chapter three, there is a time for everything. But, the question is…do we give the important things the right amount of time? We’re born, and then in a twinkling of an eye, we die. Yet the in between stages of life are what really matter. An example of this would be parenting. During this time in which our children are growing up, we have the obligation as mothers and fathers to minister and nurture their every being. This means not only physically and emotionally, but spiritually as well.
I have noticed a vast difference in our culture today in raising children, compared to twenty, fifteen and even ten years ago. I want to cry when I witness children having fits and their parents ignoring them or just being afraid to discipline for fear of damaging their child psychologically. HOGWASH! Look around, parents seem to even ignore their children’s wrong doings for fear of having to punish them. I’ve even witnessed the child telling the parent what to do. When I was growing up, talking back to your mother or father was hardly ever heard of. Children had more respect, do to the fact they knew there would be consequences if they did not obey their parents. When they grew as adults, they were more reliably and ethical.
The Bible teaches there is a time for everything, including admonition. Ephesians 6:4 teaches us to provoke not our children to wrath, but to nurture and admonish them in the Lord. In other words, discipline and instruct. Children need our guidance and discipline to stay on the right track. Yet in our humanistic culture it is frowned upon to do such things. Parents have been brainwashed by society and have lost control of their God given right and obligation in this area.
Oh, that more would see the necessity of rearing their children in a Biblical way, and take the “time” God gives them seriously.
Your child is growing up, and time is passing by
Turn your back on him, and in the twinkling of an eye…
