It’s a Matter of Minutes

Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Psalm 86:3 (CSB)

A minute! Nothing overly exciting about a minute. It simply makes up 60 little seconds or 1/60^th of an hour. However, if you are trying to hold a one-minute plank, then it feels like an eternity, and the final minute of an NFL game seems to go on forever. Three of the Super Bowl games were won at the last minute, many a traveler missed their flight at the last minute. Suddenly the lowly minute takes on a life of its own.

Life is filled with minutes. Each day you get 1440 minutes to work, rest and enjoy. Every month you get 43,800 minutes to fill up with activity. Over the year God gives you 525,600 minutes to make a difference. God has given us the gift of minutes. The question becomes, what do we do with those minutes?

A simple minute could be a game-changer for you considering the many one-minute books that Amazon offers, such as: “The One-Minute Organizer: Plain & Simple: 500 Tips for Getting Your Life in Order; The New One Minute Manager; The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey; One Minute Answers to Skeptics; One Minute Bible for Starters; or The One Minute Millionaire: The Enlightened Way to Wealth.”

Singer Tom Jones realized the power of a minute in his song, A Minute of Your Time:

“For you to think of me

It would only take a minute of your time

To spare one thought for me

Would you miss just one minute of your time…

One minute of your time

Is all it takes to bring us close

When we are far apart”

David, the powerful king of Israel, passionate poet, songwriter, and warrior had used his minutes wisely to prepare for his varied roles. Long before he picked up the rocks to do battle with Goliath, he had spent countless minutes practicing with his sling until that day when “he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” (I Sam 17:40 NIV) He understood that “My times are in your hand,” (Ps 31:15a). He understood that “In your presence there is fullness of joy,” (Ps 16:11)

Frank Laubach, missionary and literacy advocate, realized the real potential of a simple minute. He wrote a small book in 1953 called “The Game with Minutes,” to call Christians back to a constant presence of God in their daily lifestyles. He wrote, “Less than ten minutes a week given to thinking about Christ by one-sixth of the people is not saving our country or our world; for selfishness, greed, and hate are getting a thousand times that much thought. What a nation thinks about, that it is. We shall not become like Christ until we give Him more time.”

If Paul wrote, “pray without ceasing” (I Thess 5:16), “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:18), “persevere in prayer” (Rom 12:12) then it is critical to keep God in mind at all times. Laubach wrote, “We try to call Him to mind at least one second of each minute. We do not need to forget other things nor stop our work, but we invite Him to share everything we do or say or think…With God, every minute can be a fresh beginning. Ahead of you lie limitless anticipations.”

You and I have 1440 minutes today, what can we do with them? Laubach wrote, “We never attempt to keep a minute-by-minute record (excepting perhaps occasionally for an hour) since such a record would interfere with normal life. We are practicing a new freedom, not a new bondage. We must not get so tied down to score keeping that we lose the glory of it, and its spontaneity. We fix our eyes upon Jesus, not upon a clock.”

Enjoy the minutes as you ask God to intervene in our nation, community, or family. Enjoy the minutes as you pray to move the mountains of unbelief. Enjoy the minute as you find refreshment for your souls in those one-minute moments.  One thing I do know is that minutes move quickly off the face of the clock, so keep your eyes on Jesus and every minute becomes beautiful. Enjoy your minutes today, they are a gift from God!

“My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:5-6)

God is great!