The Divine Tick Tock!

God created time so it must be good. But, as all of God's creations, misuse it and it becomes a curse and a burden.

Harvey Mackay said, “Time is free but priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”

This “gift of time” is about perspective and maturing enough to appreciate the nature of your time here. That’s what makes it a gift instead of a burden.

Time is, in fact, God’s idea. He created it: the setting and rising of the sun, the rhythm of the earth, and the flow of time. God gifted us this space to “spend time” so that we would wake up to a time when time was tamed.

However, the only way to gain this wisdom is to learn to use our time well, which requires the disciplines of the Faith.

As we celebrate the first week of Great Lent, let’s not let this time of year pass us by!

Look at our Lesson in Genesis 1:14-23:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

The rhythm of the day (by the way, if you’ve ever wondered why we Orthodox measure the day from sundown to sundown, this is why) reveals God's wisdom to those who have ears to hear. Our lives constantly move from darkness to light, or they are gripped by darkness and never reach the light. God desires for our lives that we consistently move into the Light!

But the only way we will ever escape the night for the day is through God’s Word.

Now, there was a day when I thought that meant the Bible. While knowing the Holy Scriptures is vital to understanding the Word of God, the Word of God is a Person: our Lord Jesus Christ.

And how do you get to know a Person? You have to be introduced. You have to be attracted by something in that Person, and then you have to do the hard work of communion to grow your relationship with that Person. As I told a catechumen class recently, Orthodoxy is getting to know Someone, not about something!

The Church gives us the rhythm of prayer, fasting, and feasting, making communion possible and authentic.

Look at the wisdom of the Orthodox Faith's rhythm. Daily cycles of prayer and commemorations of heroes who had intimate communion with God are examples of how to build that relationship with God.

Liturgical services where the center of the service is the Eucharist. Teaching us how to be prepared for the Eucharist through fasting, confession, and prayer. Giving us the spiritual disciplines and rhythm of fasting and feasting to foster communion.

Wisdom from a growing relationship with a spiritual father in confession to help apply the spiritual medicine of the Faith to the places of your life that hinder communion.

And a Church Year that captures and baptizes even your calendar into focusing on the life of Jesus Christ.

All of this wisdom has dropped into your lap, and the key to activating it is exercising your will to DO this rhythm and practice this Faith daily.

St. Gerasimos, the Righteous of Jordan, lived in the 5th century. He was from the Asia Minor city of Lycia and lived as a Christian hermit in the area for many years. He eventually left the area and went to the Holy Land, where he built a great monastery near the Jordan River. What amazed everyone was that St. Gerasimos had a lion that served him constantly. The lion would even bring the saint food. It is a familiar story among the holy saints that the peace of Christ permeates their lives, and the animals sense this and return to their first purpose of serving God’s image in humanity. One day, the holy hero died, and when the lion came to bring St. Grasimus his food, the brothers took the lion to where they had buried this blessed man. The lion laid down at the feet of the grave, gave a roar in grief, and died at that very spot.

Today, as we enter the Great Fast and the “arena of the virtues,” the Lord once again sets the rhythm of wisdom in this Orthodox Christian faith before you. And, once again, your guardian angel, the saints gone before us, our children watching us, all scoot to the edge of their seats to see how you will choose. Will you be attentive to this season and grow the Faith in your heart, or will you let another opportunity slip away because you are too busy, tired, or preoccupied with other things? Don’t let time slip away! Let Great Lent make you a Normal Orthodox Christian.

P.S. As a star resplendent with the light of virtues, you made the wilderness of Jordan radiantly shine with beams of sacred celestial light, O righteous Father, God-bearing Gerasimus.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV