I recently saw a commercial from Viking Cruises. It was narrated by the company chairman, Torstein Hagen, who mused about the meaning of life:
“When you really philosophize about it, there’s only one thing you don’t have enough of, and that’s time. Time is the only truly scarce commodity. And then, when you come to that realization, I think it’s very important that you spend your time wisely. And I think most of us have no regrets about things we did, but I think we can have regrets about things we did not do. More people have come around to this, so what one wants in life is experiences. And that’s a way of filling the time one has. And what better way of spending time than traveling, continuing to educate ourselves and broaden our minds.”
Hagen delivers a cultured upgrade of “You only go around once, so go for the gusto” (as the 1971 Schlitz Beer commercials put it). Don’t squander your time. Live life. Check off that bucket list.
There’s a half-truth here that we can affirm: this side of heaven, time is very limited. So if you’re a subject of King Jesus, you’ll want to be a good steward of everything he’s entrusted to you, including time. We have a mission, so let’s invest our time in it.
But two very important differences must be noted between the Viking-Schlitz idea of time and the biblical perspective: First, what we do with the time we have. The world tells us to chalk up all the self-fulfillment you can. But God calls us to spend time looking away from self, and to love others in Jesus’ name.
Second, Hagen and company ponder time yet mention nothing about the reality of heaven and hell (after all, such truths don’t sell cruises). But we, as Jesus-People, should very much expect and encourage each other to see all people as made by God with the capacity to know and enjoy him forever (we have “eternity in our hearts,” Eccl. 3:11). In the grand scheme of things, then, time is certainly not a scarce commodity: forever lies before us!
Comments in this Category
All Comments
Comments:
Leave a Comment