Blog
“186,400”
Categories: Daily Living, Time“86,400”
Jarrod Jacobs
86,400 is a large number, isn’t it? Imagine having $86,400 in your bank account! What might you do with it? What if someone had 86,400 gold bars? How rich might someone be who could own 86,400 houses? Certainly, one would be most blessed if he were able to have 86,400 close friends. Yet, we are not speaking of those things when we refer to the number 86,400. 86,400 equals the number of seconds in a day!
Each day affords us 86,400 seconds of time in which to serve God, to work, to sleep, to raise children, to eat, to enjoy hobbies, and everything else we do. How are we using this time? Someone made the observation of how difficult it would be for one to spend $86,400 each day with the stipulation that he could not save it, nor “invest” it, because at the end of the day, he would lose any money he had not spent. This is similar to our gift of 86,400 seconds. The seconds we have this day will be used up in this day, and at the end of the day, they are gone forever! We have no “roll-over seconds”, or “do-overs”! There is no retrieving the seconds from this day once they are gone!
With this in mind, how are we using our time? Do we appreciate this gift like we should? Time should not be “killed,” “wasted,” etc., but savored and used wisely because it is precious and finite. This fact is stated often in the Bible. Moses asked God to, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Man’s life has been compared to a vapor in Scripture (Jas. 4:14). It has also been compared to grass or a flower, which “withers” and “falls” in time (I Pet. 1:23). Job said, “Man who is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). He also said, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and come to their end without hope” (Job 7:6). The apostle Paul emphasized the brevity of life when he stressed the importance of obeying God “now” (II Cor. 6:2). It is written, “Today if ye will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...” (Heb. 3:7-8). Notice that all of these verses emphasize the precious possession we call time. It fascinates me to consider the fact that our eternal God (Ps. 90:2) actually inspired men (II Pet. 1:20-21) to dedicate portions of His Bible to reminding man not to waste time! Since He has done this, I had better take heed!
Knowing that our life is brief at its longest (Jas. 4:14), and that our lives can end, or be irreversibly changed in a moment (Prov. 27:1), is there any wonder that we see a continued emphasis in Scripture on one doing what is right “today”, while we still have the opportunity? 86,400 seconds per day seems like a lot of time (and it is). On the other hand, these seconds move very rapidly.
86,400 seconds is all we have been given for this day. HOW will we use this precious time? Will it be used in selfishness or godliness? If the Lord wills, and we wake up to a new day tomorrow, HOW will we use the 86,400 seconds given to us on that day? The world has given us far too many “distractions” wherein we are encouraged to waste our time. (I say this as one who is guilty of wasting time, too!) Yet, let us resolve today to stop wasting time and make the best use of our time we have on earth (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5)!
