Mañana

Here’s a Spanish language lesson: Mañana simply means “tomorrow,” and sometimes “morning.”  In common usage it can also mean “later.” In its cultural context this word expresses a certain value and an attitude: “Why worry about something today when it can be put off until mañana?” It reflects an easy-going approach to life that can sound very inviting – especially on a hot summer day. What a great idea! Don’t worry! Be happy! There is just one problem: it is actually the opposite of what Jesus advised. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34). In other words, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be accomplished today.”

Because God has created all things, everything we have is a gift from God. Our very lives are a gift. Our friendships are a gift. Our resources are a gift. Our time is a gift. Every new day – every hour, every minute – is God’s special, intentional gift to us. As managers (stewards) of our lives and every good gift from God, we have a clear mandate from heaven to make productive use of our time – to “redeem” the time. The apostle Paul said it this way: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17). Verse 16 has been translated in a variety of ways: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (NKJV); “Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days” (Phillips); “It’s a scandal when people waste their lives” (Msg).

Seeing our time the way God sees it is so very important. Moses wrote a song in the book of Psalms that contains a meditation on time. He begins by describing God’s experience of time: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (v. 2); and “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (v. 4). God essentially exists outside of time and space, since both things have been created by God. He is God “from everlasting to everlasting.” While we are limited, created, finite, time-bound creatures, our experience of time is not a limitation to God. In fact, our experience of 1,000 years is like a three-hour watch in the night. However, time means something differently to us: “You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals’” (v. 3); and “Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered” (vv. 5-6). Compared to God our temporary, mortal journey on planet earth is a brief moment in time. Days come and go in a steady, rapid march toward the end of mortality and into an unhindered experience of eternity. Moses stated, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures” (v. 10). If a 1,000 years in God’s sight is like our experience of a 3-hour watch in the night, 70 years is 12 minutes 36 seconds and 80 years is 14 minutes 24 seconds in God’s sight. Not even enough for a decent coffee break.

Understanding the brevity of this mortal journey puts each day into its proper perspective. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Wisdom comes from understanding our experience of time. Seeing each day as a gift from God motivates us to take advantage of every day. Our commitment before the Lordship of Christ is to being wise, productive stewards of God’s gifts – of God’s gift of time. So don’t put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today – tomorrow is not guaranteed – you only have today.

As human beings, we experience time on a daily basis. Now that I’m in my sixth decade I’m sometimes aware of the fact that there are fewer days before me than behind me. We observe that youth suffer from “an illusion of immortality” while older folks have various kinds of identity crises (mid-life and otherwise). The simple fact is this: any sense that anyone has more or less days than anyone else is an illusion. Everyone is only guaranteed one amount of time: Today! A person in their 20s has been given today; someone in their 40s is alive today; an individual in their 60s is experiencing the gift of today; a brother or sister in their 80s woke up this morning and discovered that “this is the day the Lord has made!” No one has more or less time than this day! Being young without having learned to “number our days” will tend to result in an unwise, unproductive use of each day. Being older and assuming that there are few days ahead, forgetting that each new day is a gift from God, will also tend to result in an unwise, unproductive use of each day.

How many times have you heard someone give the excuse, “I don’t have time for that”? The fact is, everyone has the exact same amount of time. You have 24 hours in a day; the President of the US has 24 hours in a day; a homeless man trying to survive on the street has 24 hours in a day. The difference is in the use each one makes of their time. Everyone has enough time to do what they really want to do. Here’s an interesting experiment: Keep a log of your time (maybe in one hour increments) each day for seven days. Then take time to reflect on how your use of time reflects your priorities, your values, the way you view the meaning and purpose of your life. Finally, ask God to adjust your values and priorities and adjust the stewardship of your time accordingly.