"If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day till eternity passes away just to spend them with you." Some of you will recognize these words as some of the lyrics from Jim Croce's love song, "Time In A Bottle." As the song continues, Croce expresses this thought: "But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do."

We can preserve a lot of things in jars, bottles and cans, but time is not one of them. Admittedly, there are some times and events of the past that I would not want bottled up even if it were possible, but the vast majority of what I have experienced in life thus far has been positive and fulfilling. For this, I am most thankful.

I often stand amazed at how quickly time passes. By the time you read this, our oldest granddaughter, Mallory, will have turned five years old; Jaleah, our youngest granddaughter, turned three in June. Even at this early time in their lives, there are many oc- casions that I would like to have in a bottle of time that I could go back and reopen again, but that is not possible.

As I walked through the two empty bedrooms in our house last week, everything seemed too still, too quiet, too unoccupied; every toy was in the same place it was days ago. The bed coverings have not been turned back for days. Why? Because time has passed, life has changed, and there are less of us in our home than there used to be.

No, we cannot bottle and preserve time, but we can and should--indeed, we must--use the present time as wisely and efficiently as possible. As we do, we can rejoice that God is in control of time. That which David acknowledged in Psalm 31 is true for us as well: "My times are in Your hands" (verse 15, NIV). And in Psalm 139 David writes, "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be" (verse 16).

The writer of Ecclesiastes makes a valid observation about life as he expresses this reality: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" (3:1, NIV). Like the changing seasons, time and what it holds comes and goes; we must be very diligent to seize every day and utilize it to its full Godintended purpose before it passes away forever.

A most serious thought about the usage of passing time is that of taking advantage of the opportunity to receive God's grace and forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul provides us with a serious truth in II Corinthians 6 in the latter part of verse 2: "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." Such an opportunity cannot be put into a bottle and placed on a shelf to be revisited at a time of our choosing. It is a matter that must be faced now while the time and opportunity still exist. What will you do about it?