The Time of Your Life - Part 3

Time Through the Mind of Christ

By T. M. Moore | Published Date: January 02, 2013

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.  - 1 Corinthians 2:16

~  The Mind of Christ

In order to make the best use of the time of our lives we need to learn to see our time through the mind of Him Who creates, bestows, and upholds it. What does God intend in giving us this most precious gift? We may protest, “But who can know the mind of the Lord”? However, Paul reminds us that, if we are believers in Jesus Christ, we have the mind of Christ, the very Word of God, the same Word Who is creating and bestowing and upholding all the time of our lives.

We have the mind of Christ. But if the mind of Christ in us is like one of those antiques stored in the attic, it won’t do us much good. We must daily receive and be renewed in the mind of Christ if we want to understand the world – and time – as Jesus does (Rom. 12:1, 2; Eph. 4:17-24; 2 Cor. 10:3-5).

~  Jesus’ View of Time

How does Jesus Christ see the time He gives us each moment of our lives? What is His purpose in bestowing this great gift? We want to be good servants and stewards of our time, so that we return to the Lord Who gives us time, an investment of glory and Kingdom progress. The better we understand what Jesus intends in giving us the time of our lives, the better we will be able to make good use of it according to His purposes and will.

According to Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15 –echoing Psalm 110 – Jesus Christ is presently employed at the right hand of God the Father, working to augment, improve, and advance His rule on earth as it is in heaven. He sends out His Word to uphold the cosmos, gives His Spirit to bring new life to those who believe the Gospel, endows His followers with gifts and fruit, calls them to particular places of service, sends His angels to guard and assist them in their endeavors, and puts His enemies under His feet as He builds His Church and thus fills the world with His presence (Eph. 1:15-23).

So it must be the case that, in giving us each successive moment of time, Jesus intends us to receive and use our time according to His purposes in seeking and advancing His Kingdom. He has told us that seeking His Kingdom and righteousness is to be the defining priority of our lives (Matt. 6:33), and this would include the way we use our time.

~  A Kingdom Resource

When we thus see our time through the mind of Christ, we understand that time is a resource for seeking and advancing the rule of Jesus Christ on earth as it is in heaven, so that righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit increase and abound in and through us, filling up all the time of our lives. We are making the most of our time (Eph. 5:15-17) when the time of our lives is invested in establishing and enlarging the footprint of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

There are no moments in our lives that are given to us for any purpose other than seeking the Kingdom of God. This does not mean that every moment of our lives must be given over to doing “church work.” Since Christ is Lord of all – every aspect of human life and interest – we are using our time best when we’re employing it to further the presence of His Kingdom. Even if all we’re doing is eating and drinking, or relaxing and enjoying a moment of well-deserved rest, we can do so in such a way as to refract the reality of the Kingdom of God into the ordinary events of everyday life (1 Cor. 10:31).

But this doesn’t just happen. In order to live out the mind of Christ in the time of our lives we need to study the Word of Christ, thinking through everything He teaches us in His Word, so that we are able to take every thought and every moment captive for King Jesus and make our thoughts and time obey His good and perfect purposes (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

- This study by T.M. Moore, and others like it, is made available at ColsonCenter.org.