​TIME: Our most precious commodity.
 
What is important to you today? Those things that are important to us are the things which we will spend our time on. Time is our most precious commodity in that we can't save it and we can't get back what we wasted. What we can do is redeem time. That means to spend it wisely. It is making each moment count for the most. We are not promised the next breath, so make the most out of this one.

I would like to address the importance of the things we think and feel. In any given day we spend the largest part of that day thinking and feelings certain ways. Therefore, we are spending time on those thoughts and those feeling.

We make judgment calls or decisions each day concerning the things we think and feel. We must make a judgment or decision about the Word of God and the love of God. These are emotions and thoughts that are tied directly to our time. How are we spending it?
 
Here is the judgment or decision...that the Word of God and the love of God are more important then stinking thinking and bad emotions.

Therefore, having made that decision and that judgment call we can exchange the time we spend on bad feelings and thoughts for that which is more important which is God's Word and God's love. It is why Paul said, "Think on these things."

However, if our bad emotions and bad thinking is more important to us, then it does not matter how true God's Word is or how much God loves us...we will waste our valuable time walking in something that does not count in eternity.

Philippians 4:7-8 ESV  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (8)  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Romans 12:2 ESV  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

​A THOUSAND MARBLES
 
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.  Maybe it's the joy of not having to do real work for someone else and being able to do the things that I want to do.  Well here is the story of the thousand marbles.  Grace and peace as you read it.
 
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
 
And that's when he began to explain his “theory of a THOUSAND MARBLES."
 
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
 
"It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in any detail,  and by that time I had already lived through 2,800 of my Saturdays."
 
"I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about a 1,000 Saturdays left to enjoy.  So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had.  I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles.  I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."
 
"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.  I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.  There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
 
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. I am now 75 years old and this morning I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
 
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man signing out."
 
You could have heard a pin drop when this fellow signed off.  I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few friends to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
 
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
 
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
 
Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.
  
10, 20, 30 or even 50 years from now, it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like.

But the world may be a better place because you were important in the life of a loved one because you made your marbles of life count.