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Spring Ahead

By March 10, 2013August 30th, 2022Devotional

Anybody who grew up in the sixties or earlier learned the phrase “spring ahead – fall back.” Of course, it is a reference to whether you move the clocks ahead an hour or back an hour when daylight savings time starts each year. But the truth of the matter is that those of us who live in Indiana went years without having to move our clocks at all. Now I know that those of you in the far reaches of the state did follow the time zones of the economic centers geographically near to you, but for the most part, we didn’t have to remember the little diddy about springing ahead.

But several years ago, the powers that be decided that we needed more daylight later into the day and so the idea of daylight savings time we re-introduced in the legislature and eventually passed in law. All this happened in the midst of heated debate on both sides of the political aisle and so the press makes a big deal out of making sure that people are aware of the time changes.

That is, except I didn’t listen to the news or hear anything about the time change. Thank God we didn’t have anything going on early this morning – we would have been late. If we would have been heading to the airport to catch a flight, or were scheduled to go to church (we did that Saturday evening), we would have missed the bus…

On top of all that, I can of get amped up whenever there is a time change. Janet and I have collected timepieces for almost 40 years and we believe in using them around the house. So rather than one or two clocks to set, we must have 40 or more. It is like an Easter egg hunt, trying to remember all the places that we keep clocks. On Sundays alone, we have four clocks that have to be wound because they all chime on the hour and the half hour. So this twice yearly experience results in both of us taking more than an hour to reset all the timepieces in our home; and that doesn’t count the ones that automatically move to the correct time based on the time signal emanating from Colorado.

When I was a little boy, my grandfather would tune his large world-wide radio in to hear the constant marking of the seconds based on the official clock. Every Sunday evening, after dinner and before the Ed Sullivan show, Grandpa and I would go into the living room and tune in the signal. Then Grandpa would check his watch and make sure the grandfather clock in the corner of the room was also synced up to the time signal. I think that’s where I picked up the habit of winding the clocks every Sunday evening. In fact, I still do that to this day and just completed the task before I sat down to write this evening.

In fact, the “ticking” of the official clock is a constant in my memory. Time marches on. And while we get older with every passing second, the truth of the matter is that time is reliable. You can depend on it. But there is another dependable thing in the universe as well – of course, you know that I am referring to God. God has been there since the beginning and will be there throughout all eternity. Time doesn’t mean anything to God. He will be here forever and ever. And while you and I may be anxious about something, God has all the time in the world – literally.

The verse for this evening reflects the constancy and dependability of God. We are told in the Hosea 6:3, “Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” And that is exactly what is happening this month. We are preparing for the spring rains of April.

My encouragement this evening is to remind you that God is as dependable as time itself.  And my prayer is that you will pay as much attention to Him as you do to the clock on your wall. Because His love for you is constant, raining down on you with every tick of the clock. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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