I’ve only been involved in one FaceTime video conversation on a computer since the application became popular some years back. We found it quite useful in assisting our church search committee carry on a successful initial interview with a pastoral candidate on the East Coast.
That interview led to our church bringing the candidate and his family across country, and eventually offering him a pastoral position. Today, he serves as the senior pastor for that church.
Nowadays I suspect thousands of these electronic applications are taking place every minute of the day around the world. The way we communicate has changed dramatically since the turn of the century. We certainly do live in an E-World culture these days.
We may well be only a step or two away from holograms using laser technology to allow 3-D images to take the place of photographic images on a screen in media presentations, but I personally prefer the old-fashioned face-to-face approach with the real party only a few feet from me. My so-called second office is a small, quaint coffee shop here in Santa Barbara.
Nearly every day I meet with folks at Spudnuts & Bagels, at 3629 State St. The coffee choices are great and the prices are quite reasonable. We often meet there for a bite to eat as well. Seldom do I eat doughnuts these days, but it’s hard to resist a custom-made croissant or bagel sandwich over breakfast or lunch!
The small tables inside and outside this family-owned business let us meet at a desirable conversational distance during these social summits and allow for intimate discussions.
Finding FaceTime in an E-world, to me, means micromanaging the space time continuum. The real challenge we all face is the elusiveness of time as we rush through each day attempting to accomplish more and more as technology teases us as the minutes simply fly away.
These technological advances that will certainly continue at an alarming rate should make us realize the true value of our time. Once it passes us by, it’s gone forever.
Since we cannot accomplish much in a minute, I like looking at each day as starting at 12 a.m. with 1,440 new minutes knowing that there is some urgency to not squandering the time we’ve all been allocated. Time is a precious resource that deserves our due diligence.
Most of us require a good 360 to 480 minutes of rest each day. Occasionally, I find myself needing to rest some afternoons when I start early in the morning due to weekly commitments.
Let’s assume we have 1,000 minutes of daily operating time on average. How are you doing with your allocation of those minutes?
We need to look at how many minutes we simply fritter away with nonsensical preoccupations. Time is perhaps our most precious commodity in life, and only God knows how much more time we have left. Many of us are in the fourth quarter of life and we need to get serious about those minutes, hours, days and years we have remaining.
I must admit that I don’t always use my time wisely, but in recent years I’ve greatly improved how I spend my time. What’s most important to me as a follower of Christ is being available for the many divine appointments that come my way. I’m becoming more in tune with the presence of the Holy Spirit in matters, and I trust that’s where God wants me to invest much of my time and energy.
Perhaps you, too, have felt an urgency as time passes you by.
Jesus spoke to his disciples in the 13th chapter of Mark about the need to be watchful. In verse 33 we’re told, “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” And in verses 36 and 37, He concludes “If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you I say to everyone: Watch!”
We need to remain focused on Christ and realize that the time is at hand and near. Live your life accordingly this day forward.
Passages to Ponder
— Jim Langley has been writing for more than 30 years while working as a life and health insurance agent in Santa Barbara. In recent years, his passion has turned to writing about his personal relationship with God, and his goal is to encourage others to draw near to Him as well. As a longtime member of CBMC of Santa Barbara (Christian Business Men’s Connection), he started writing Fourth Quarter Strategies columns in 2014, and he now reaches an international audience through the CBMC International devotional Monday Manna. He can be contacted at jim@fourthquarterstrateies.com for more information. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.