The Idolatry of Time

Of all my resources, I probably come closest to worshiping time.

The small group I am in just finished the Kyle Idleman series, Gods At War. It was a good, meaning hard-hitting, study. It talks about the different idols we have in our lives: Power; Comfort; Money; etc. One that was not mentioned specifically, but with which I personally struggle, is time.

Time is something you can never get more of. Once it is gone, you can never get it back. Last year, yesterday, a minute ago--they are gone. And I miss them. I mourn for them. I want them back. I struggle with an addiction to time.

An idol is something that takes the place of God.

That is a simple, but to me, effective definition. Here is my struggle: I should follow Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me." Instead, I often think, I can do all things if I just had more time." Do you see it? Do you see the idolatry in that? Maybe you don't think that way, but I do. It's a constant battle.

How can time take the place of God? When I say I don't have enough time to serve Him. When time is too important for me to spend an hour in His word. When time becomes a barrier to being with God, then time has become my god. That's scary.

Time is neither good nor evil.

Just like all the other idols Mr Idleman discussed, time is neither inherently good nor inherently evil. Time is a tool, a resource--like money, or food, or a hammer. All of those things can be good or evil, depending on how you use them, how you view them. But when any of those things, or anything else, becomes more important than God, then it begins to take on a new meaning in your life. It becomes an object of worship. An idol. And idols are evil.

You see, it is not time which is wrong or evil, but my view of it. My obsession with it. Time is not the problem. I am.

There is only one solution to idols.

The answer is God, as it always is. God has to be first and foremost in my life. If He does not come first, then I am an idolator, a worshiper of idols. There are consequences to what I choose, but God allows me to make a choice. Him, or something else. It really is that simple.

Everyone worships something.

Whether it be God, money, sex, or time--everyone worships something. It is in our nature, they way we were created. We have a hole that we have to fill with something. Only God can fill that hole completely, but if we do not have Him, we will keep trying to shove something else in there. It is human nature, because God made us that way.

So how about you?

What do you worship, depend on, jealously hold on to in good times and bad? God is the only right answer there. Anything else is an idol.