Bound by Time; Using Your Time and Treasure to the Glory of God
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1/9) Movie CLIP - A Clock That Runs Backwards (2008)
"David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story, re-teams the director with Brad Pitt, who takes on the title role. What makes Button such a curious case is that when he is born in New Orleans just after World War I, he is already in his eighties, and proceeds to live his life aging in reverse. This sweeping film follows the character's unusual life into the 21st century as he experiences joy and sadness, loves lost and found, and the meaning of timelessness. Cate Blanchett co-stars along with Tilda Swinton, Elias Koteas, and Julia Ormond." from video introduction.
You and I are on a schedule, our lives are daily winding down toward our death. We are bound by it, we cant turn back the clock and sadly we only interpret the events of our lives in looking back at them.
God s perception of the time we live through (Theologian Hugh MacCann describes God as seeing and creating all of creation in a flash) is very different than we can even imagine.
2 Peter 3:8 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
The context of 2 Peter 3 is the return of the Lord to deliver His people. Peter reminds the believers not to lose heart because God is working on a different timetable. For all of us if something doesn’t happen within a matter of a few years, then we miss it so it seems unlikely to happen. God is not limited by time because “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
We forget this in the distracted lives we live.
The fact is the Lord's return has been immanent since his ascension. It will happen sooner or later.
In the Curious Case of Benjamin Button time is turned on its head as Benjamin is born old becomes younger and younger until he ceases to exist. there are many poiniant scenes in the movie. The clock scene is one of them. Who hasn't imagined turning back the clock on events and someone's death? If someone had not died in a war or a car accident or a murder what would their lives have been like, what would they have contributed to the world and our lives? Only God knows all the possible events, the alternate history.
In the movie "Arrival" Louise muses about time:
Our lives are moving to a point outside of time as we know it. Just think of it we will not be bound by night and day, the aging process will cease, sin will stop!!!!!!!!!!!!
So what of our troubles will we remember?
Isaiah 65:17 says, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Some interpret Isaiah 65:17 as saying that we will have no memory of our earthly lives in heaven. However, one verse earlier in Isaiah 65:16, the Bible says, “For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” It is likely only our “past troubles” will be forgotten, not all of our memories. Our memories will eventually be cleansed, redeemed, healed, and restored, not erased. There is no reason why we could not possess many memories from our earthly lives. The memories that will be cleansed are the ones that involve sin, pain, and sadness. Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. - from the website: GotQuestions.
So right now we must be intentional about what little time we have left. We must be obedient, pray, confess our sins and then repent. Read your bible, repair broken relationships, help your neighbor, be active in the community and in church. Do not forget that one day, maybe sooner than you or I think we will stand before our creator, are you prepared to give an account?