Starting up Thoughtful Life Ministries for its second year made me think about the concept of dividing things into sections of time. One of the primary marks of our experience on this earth is the day-night cycle. We are surrounded by an endless and inescapable cycle of endings and beginnings.
The question follows: why? Why is time divided into chunks for us to experience?
Chopping Up Time
First of all, the divisions are significant. The fact that life is experienced in days and weeks and months and years is neither arbitrary nor inconsequential. In fact, these time divisions were established before humans were even created (except the week). God deliberately prepared a world, and indeed an entire solar system, that marks the passage of time incrementally, and especially by days. As a result our lives, even in this modernized world, are inescapably dominated by days.
Each New Night
Every night we go to sleep – we have to.
It’s easy to say that we sleep because our bodies need it, and that God made the days and nights to accommodate this need. However, the day-night cycle came first, and we were created with the need. Theologically we have to acknowledge first that God did not have to make us this way (because of his infinite power and freedom); and second that he made us with this need because he wanted to and because it was best (because of his infinite wisdom and sovereignty). And lest this need be interpreted as the result of the fall, the cycle existed pre-fall (Genesis 1:3-5; 14-19), Adam and Eve operated by this cycle with daily routines (walking with God in the cool of the evening), and we have an account of Adam sleeping (2:21). We were created fragile and needy creatures. We are in constant need of food, air, and sleep in order to be sustained. That state of need is pre-fall, and to quote God, “good.”
One purpose of night is to present this human limitation of sleep in an inescapable way. Our needs gently herd us toward God. Our physiological needs that slap us in the face with our imperfection every day reflect our overall need of God himself.
Jesus watches the woman at the well, than he draws her attention to her basic needs. Wouldn’t it be nice to be free of thirst forever? The water is a gift from God to quench our physiological need; but it pictures a more vital spiritual need: a desperate thirst that only Jesus can satisfy.
This tactic of drawing our attention to spiritual need through physiological need is common. Jesus talked about those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). The Prophets talked about a famine for the words of God (Amos 8:11). The Psalms talk about thirsting for God like a dear panting for water (Psalm 42).
So, let sleep drive you to God – for a deeper rest.
Another purpose of night is to end the day. Not only do we need to sleep, but we can only handle one day at a time.
In fact, Jesus made it clear that, in general, we should only tackle one day at a time. In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us during a discussion on worry and the sovereignty of God, that each day has enough of its own problems. Why does Jesus bring this up within the context of this discussion? How does this help us with worry?
Not worrying isn’t about not having stuff worth worrying about. That generally doesn’t happen. There is always something to worry about. Not worrying is about trusting God. And taking one day at a time is a helpful exercise in trusting God. This is also how we pray: for the strength and provision of each day (Luke 11:3). We don’t need to worry about the bigger picture because God is in control.
We see in the psalms that trusting God goes along with sleeping. The psalmist says in Psalm 4:8, that because God is in control and keeping him safe, he can sleep soundly at night. Ultimately, we can rest in God's sovereign control and boundless wisdom and goodness.
Sleep is a daily surrender. We have to give up effort and control for the day, leave our problems unresolved in the hands of God, and go to sleep.
Each New Day
Every day we wake up – we have to.
One purpose of the day is to present us with the now, and tie us to the moment.
In his song on new beginnings, Michael Card says of God, “to break us away from the past and the future, He does what he must do.” Keeping us “in the now,” is a definite theme we see in Scripture. Jesus tells us to not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6). James and Solomon warn us against trusting in our plans for the future (James 4; Psalm 127). Paul talks about moving on from the past and pushing forward in your Christian life (Philemon 3). Jesus and all his apostles after him talk constantly about forgiveness, and not being a slave to the past.
Perhaps the best passage for this is in Ephesians 5, where the believers are encouraged to use time wisely, with an emphasis on that time slipping away if not used productively and intentionally.
In a very real and practical way, we can’t love or enjoy or serve God in the past or the future, because we aren’t there. We only experienced yesterday when it was today, and we will only experience tomorrow when it is today. We can only, ever serve and love and experience our God right here and right now.
Days drive this home by trapping us in one small capsule of time that we cannot escape. Therefore the Word calls us to come to God “while it is called today.”
Another purpose of days is to present us with a constant stream of new beginnings. Every day is fresh. It is a new opportunity, filled with new experiences. He gives us new mercies every morning (Lamentation 3:22-23). This beautiful reality is a blessing in and of itself. It also points us toward the wonderful truth of the gospel – that for those who have believed, God’s mercy, forgiveness, power, and acceptance flows always. Every moment he calls us to begin again. Every moment is fresh for us, who fall and flee and fail. Jesus’ hand is constantly extended, regardless of how far we fall or how hard we fail. We do not have to make it to a better place before approaching God, both because we are incapable of getting to a better place without him, and because he accepts us where we are.
Through the miracle of his grace and kindness, Jesus is not ashamed of me. (Hebrews 2:10-11)
Come to God, “while it is called today.”
Under Grace,
John Fritz
John Fritz is the Volunteer Coordinator for Thoughtful Life Ministries and the primary author of the Thoughtful Life Journal, which is published weekly from March through September. The purpose of this blog is to challenge and encourage those who have a desire to cultivate a more meaningful walk with Christ. Visit our Homepage to learn more about the ministry and our annual two-week summer Discipleship Program for teens and young adults.