Question: Why did the woman throw her clock out the window?

Answer: She wanted to see time fly.

Okay, that’s an old joke and it isn’t very funny anymore, at least not to me. I don’t need to toss my clock to see time fly; I merely need to stand still and watch it zip past.

I remember starting school each September with one pressing question on my mind: how many days till Christmas vacation? When we returned to classes in January, all I wanted to know was how many days till Easter break? In both cases, as I sat in the classroom, time seemed to stand still.

Not anymore. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I can start out on a Monday, blink, and find it’s Saturday. Or turn the calendar to October and suddenly discover myself facing November. I have to resist the urge to look little children in the eye and tell them to stop wishing they were older or wanting time to pass. I find myself agreeing with George Bernard Shaw when he said, “Youth is wasted on the young.”

Maybe I’m a little more sensitive to the passing of time as I look at today’s date and realize Christmas is a mere seven weeks away. But I have a choice. I can obsess about time careening past like a runaway train or I can be intentional about how I spend the minutes I have.

Of course, we all need time to rest and re-energize, but I cringe at how much time I’ve wasted when I could have been doing more meaningful things. As our culture slips further and further away from accountability to the Creator of the universe, time is running out. I want to look back at the end of my days and know I didn’t squander the opportunities I was given to make a difference for the cause of Christ.

It’s not always about doing big things. Making a difference, moment by moment, could be as simple as sharing a smile or passing along a word of encouragement. It could be as easy as offering to pray for someone enduring heartache or taking a meal to a family in need. As I develop those relationships, I’ll also have opportunities to share the love of God expressed for us in the sacrifice of Christ.

I love how the apostle Paul phrased it:

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV).

Time may be flying by, but I intend to use it wisely. Will you redeem the time with me?