Good News October 2017 Broward

time which is called eternity. Eternity is when time will cease. Eternity is where we live our real life forever. Time is where we prepare for eter- nity. Time is a current reality, something we can experience. Eternity for now is a faith con- cept, but one day it too will be a current reality. To maximize our use of time now we must see it from an eternal perspec- tive. This requires us to look through the eye of faith. God designed everything in cre- ation with purpose including us. So we must make the same request of God the psalmist did in Psalm 90.12: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” He was asking God to teach him how to allot or spend his time wisely. God, being the designer of life, cer- tainly knows how to make it work to achieve our full poten- tial. If we are teachable and humble, God will show us where and where not to spend our time. Everyone is equal when it comes to time. We have 24 hours in a day. We don’t know how many total days we have; only God knows that. However, like money, some people spend their time much more wisely than others – you can be one of those people. Just do two things to be one of these wiser people. The first thing is to make spending time with God in his word each day a top priority. He will then show you how to best use the rest of your time. The second thing is to take time to reflect upon how you use time. In doing so you will eliminate many regrets in your later life. He has set eternity in our hearts Ecclesiastes 3.11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart.” The writer of this book is asking about the meaning of life. He keeps saying life is vanity, empty, meaningless. It is just a series of endless repetitive cycles with nothing new under the sun. What is the point of all we do for we are just going to die and leave everything behind for some- one else? We come with noth- ing and go out the same. Death is the great equalizer. On a human level, this is true and pretty depressing. However, God has set eternity in our hearts. Instinc- tively we know there is some- thing beyond this life. To discover what that is, we must know God. Preferable we should come to know him in the days of our youth (Ec- clessiastes 12.1). This way we can discover our purpose early in life and live with greater significance. This is what we are designed for. In this way, we live a life of eter- nal consequence. We leave a spiritual legacy rather than a life of empty regrets. Dr. John Hawkins, Sr. runs Gateway Counseling Center in Boynton Beach along with his son John Jr. He can be reached by vis- iting gatewaycounseling.com. EXPERTAGENT IN THE KNOW © 2016 Allstate Insurance Co. 216845 Weston Agency Inc. 954-349-5882 2893 Executive Park Drive Weston GoodNewsFL.org 37 october 2017 ENCOURAGEMENT 'RQ·W ORVH \RXU MR\ DQG KRSH 7KH /25' LV FORVH WR WKH EURNHQKHDUWHG DQG VDYHV WKRVH ZKR DUH FUXVKHG LQ VSLULW 3VDOP )25(&/2685(" 1RZ LV 127 WKH WLPH WR EH HPEDUUDVVHG DVKDPHG RU SULGHIXO ³$9´ UDWHG E\ SHHUV 0DUWLQGDOH +XEEHOO ‡ \HDUV VHUYLFH LQ 6RXWK )ORULGD