The Clock and the Weakening of God’s Supremacy
Reflective Reading: Ephesians 5:15-21
Do you ever wonder why the clock was invented? It’s had quite the influence on the world.
Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, comments on Lewis Mumford’s theory that “beginning in the fourteenth century, the clock made us into time-keepers, and then time-savers, and now time-servers.”
Now, before we completely assault the clock, there are certainly advantages to having a time system. Scheduling flights, administering medication, and scheduling events all need the discipline of time.
God Himself created day and night, and times and seasons for His sovereign purposes. But unlike the rhythm of the seasons, the clock seems to have taken over more of our allegiance than we might realize. We’ve all heard that we are to redeem the time, but what are we to accomplish with our redeemed time? More time for golf, sports, TV, or video games? Is our technology and thirst for pleasure, actually robbing us of time . . . or perhaps, robbing God?
Mumford warned, that “with the invention of the clock, Eternity ceased to serve as the measure and focus of human events.”
Even Postman himself, although not a believer, contends that “though few would have imagined the connection, the inexorable ticking of the clock may have had more to do with the weakening of God’s supremacy than all the treatises produced by the philosophers of the Enlightenment . . . the clock introduced a new form of conversation between man and God, in which God appears to have been the loser.”
So, are we redeeming the time by giving to God what is rightly His? Are we giving Him the first fruits of our time, not just in measured minutes, but in a wholehearted pursuit of a relationship that will last through eternity?
To help in your pursuit of redeeming the time, I recommend the book Tomorrow. This unforgettable story will inspire and challenge your entire family to seize the day and make it count for all eternity.
Enjoy,
Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
