Officially it is July 31. In actuality it is February 30. Dear old Julius Caesar, this month’s namesake, decided his month should have an extra day. To steal a day from February and add it to the end of his month was a safe political move. Caesar Augustus did the same for August and poor February got fleeced twice. The keeping of time is a fascinating topic. Other than the seven day week all other forms of time keeping are man-made. There is the Julian calendar, the Hebrew calendar, and the Chinese calendar.
Time is important to us. Each passing year increases its value. Jimmy Durante’s September Song closes with the poignant reminder words,
“Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September.
Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I’ll spend with you
These precious days I’ll spend with you.”
I can’t imagine how precious time must be to those without Jesus. Value is relative and often correlated with quantity. The fewer of something the more precious. However, those with an endless supply of days are rich and they might not pine over the aging process. Jesus, the author of time itself, has made us some extremely powerful promises such as John 5:24, “”I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life . . . he has crossed over from death to life.” You can only give what you have and Jesus has an endless supply to give each of us. How very grand.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 31, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org