Run While the Clock Is Still Ticking

Heaven Gives Every Earthly Day Its Direction

We often speak of time as though it were something we own. We “save” time, “spend” time, “make” time, and sometimes “kill” time. Yet none of us can place one unused hour in storage for tomorrow. Every moment arrives as a gift from God and then passes permanently into eternity. Moses understood this when he prayed, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). He was not asking God to help him count birthdays. He was asking for the wisdom to make his remaining days count.

Paul expressed the same truth when he urged believers to be “making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). Every person receives 168 hours each week. Many of those hours must be devoted to sleep, work, family, and ordinary responsibilities. God does not condemn those necessary activities. He simply calls us to live them with eternal purpose. A day does not have to be spectacular to be spiritually significant. A meal prepared with love, a prayer whispered for someone who is hurting, or an honest task completed faithfully can become an offering to God.

Thomas Chalmers learned this lesson after years of careless ministry. Personal disappointment, serious illness, and the deaths of family members awakened him to the brevity of life and his need for Christ. Looking back, he confessed, “I had forgotten two magnitudes: I thought not of the littleness of time, and I recklessly thought not of the greatness of eternity.” Chalmers discovered that life changes when eternity is no longer a distant doctrine but the horizon toward which every day is moving. Heaven does not make earthly life less important; it reveals why earthly life matters so much.

Scripture joins this stewardship of time with the picture of running a race. Hebrews 12:1 describes “the race that is set before us.” First Corinthians 9:24 urges us to “run in such a way that you may win,” while Philippians 3:14 points toward “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Taken together, these passages assure us that God has not placed His children on a meaningless course. He gives each believer a particular calling, supplies the strength to continue, and promises that faithful endurance will not be forgotten.

Kent Hughes reminds us that our courses are not identical: “Some are relatively straight, some are all turns, some seem all uphill.” That explains why comparing our race with someone else’s can be so discouraging. One person’s road may appear smooth while ours seems filled with sharp turns. Yet God never asks us to run another person’s course. He asks us to remain faithful in the lane He has assigned to us.

The Christian race is not won by earning salvation or outrunning other believers. Christ has already secured our salvation through His death and resurrection. We run because we belong to Him, and we press forward because a loving Father delights in rewarding the faithfulness He produces in His children. The prize is ultimately Christ Himself—the joy of entering His presence and hearing His approval.

The old story about Charlton Heston learning to drive the chariot for Ben-Hur captures something reassuring. When Heston worried that he could drive the chariot but could not guarantee winning, director William Wyler replied, “You just stay in the race, and I’ll make sure you win.” We must be careful not to turn that illustration into a promise of earthly ease. God does not guarantee that our course will be painless. He promises something better: His grace will be sufficient, His presence will remain, and no faithful step taken for Christ will be wasted.

May the Lord teach you to treasure today, release every unnecessary weight, and run your appointed race with your eyes fixed upon Jesus. May each passing hour carry you closer to the joy prepared for God’s faithful children.

Blessings,

Pastor Hogg

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