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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Day and Night (07/10/14)
“I don’t know if I will have any time to help you. I only have day and night you know. There are so many other things I have to be doing. And did I say, I only have day and night.”

I am thankful God gave us both day and night. God gave the day to use to work in and the night to use to sleep. Some nations are so “advanced” that many people have these switched around. People work at night and sleep in the day time. Is this sad or what? More people in the third world countries use the day and night for the way God created and meant them to be used. And are we really more advanced than they are?

But let us get back to what we were talking about – time. Did you know I only have the time between the day I am born and the day I die to live? And that is not very long. Just look at the dash on the tomb stones in any cemetery between the given dates. That is not a very long dash. So what will I do with that dash or the length of my life time? Do we ask ourselves this question? Do we ask ourselves this question often enough? Do we even think about it enough?

What is time? Now that is a subject for discussion! We might say it is the rotation of the earth. When the earth rotates once so that on any spot there has been both a space of light and a space of dark, we have the time in a day. We are not satisfied with saying it is daytime. We have to be more specific. We have to say, it is breakfast time if it has been a long space since we last ate. Someone may come and say “it is work time” if we have had a break space. Because of this, we may be longing for vacation time. But this space comes and goes so fast, was it worth longing for since the space is so short.

Are we living and longing for the right time? Are our days and nights enough time?

We are asking ourselves the wrong question. The real question should be, “what is my purpose in living”?

When we are living our day and night to accomplish our purpose – the purpose God has assigned to us – we will have enough time to accomplish our purpose. With our last breath we can breathe a sigh of relief and say, “It is finished”. Remember, Jesus is our example.

When our days and nights are encased in our purpose, we will be purposely working on the activities that will enable the final words to be uttered, “It is finished.” Our days and nights will be enough time.

If an activity fits into the purpose God has for us, we will have time for it. We will not be saying, “I don’t know if I will have time to help you.” If it fits in with God’s purpose, we will have time.

What am I going to do with my life may only be a selfish question. A better question might be, “What does God want me to do with my life?” When we seek to find the answer to that question, many other questions are answered for us. Matt. 6:33,34 has the answer to the question we should be asking. It tells us to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God’s purpose for us is to be living in his kingdom and his righteousness. When we spend our days and nights with this purpose in the forefront of our mind and heart, we will have time for his purpose to be accomplished.
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This article has been read 678 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Jenny Fulton 
07/17/14
This was a good challenge on how we are making use of the time we have been given.
Robert Douglas Brown
07/21/14
After reading through many very good articles that dealt with the topic, I find this article to be one of the best! Keep up the good work my friend in Christ!

God Bless!
Phillip Cimei
07/21/14
Such an important subject. I think about it all the time. Good job of getting your point across. James said that our life is like a vapor. That pretty well sums up what you pointed out. I always thought of time as a sliver taken out of eternity. You have great potential. A few suggestions. Start out with a hook to catch our attention. Your beginning was a little off target from your body. Your thoughts were good, but a little more continuity would benefit. I look forward to future writings from you.
C D Swanson 
07/21/14
Excellent!

God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
07/23/14
Your message is a powerful one indeed. So often, we humans spend much of our time wishing our lives away. It's easy to do when the stoplight stays red longer than we want or if the doctor keeps us waiting. Even good times are wished away. I'm sure we've all said I can't wait until... Christmas, the baby is born, for a better job.

I would encourage you to go back and see how many times you repeated words like day and night, time, and life. If you read some stories in level four, you'll find some are clearly on topic without ever using the topic words. I'd like to challenge you to try doing that or maybe only use it once next time you write a challenge story. In doing so, you'll also discover your work becomes tighter and the message clearer. I don't challenge just anyone; I believe you are gifted enough to accomplish that goal.
To give you an example of what I mean by tightening your story, the following is another way one might tackle the opener:
"I don't have time to help you. There's only twenty-four hours in a day." I cringe when I hear these words. Some people tend to focus on the wrong things. It's not how much time we have that's important but what we do with those precious minutes.

My example isn't perfect, but I hope it shows you what I mean. One way isn't better than the other either, but in this world of instant gratification, we do need to grab people before they click on another story.

You did definitely show your passion and deliver a timely message. The news is on in the background and it reminds me of the truth in your words. The time to act is now, for there may not be a tomorrow. Keep writing, I'm eager to read your next article.