What Do You Prioritize?
May 4, 2025Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "What Do You Prioritize?" A video of today's message is here on YouTube.
TimberCreek Church Announcement: In a few weeks, TimberCreek will start a sermon series entitled "You Asked For It." The title is literal. You can ask for specific scripture verses to be explored/explained. To submit a verse to be considered for this series, use this form.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...
I'll offer one additional thought about "best time". Patrick pointed out that it's good to assign your best time to developing your relationship with God (whether in prayer, studying scripture, or whatever). I would also offer that all your times should have a "God component" in it. When you're trying to give your best efforts at work, for instance, that effort should be Godly as well. In all your times, there should be a Godly nature to it. Isn't that the point - to live your entire life in a Godly fashion?
I thought I'd do a little research about the concept of time (ayth, עֵת) in the Ancient Near East (ANE); that is, Old Testament times. It's not as easy as I thought. It gets pretty deep. Let me point you to a couple of articles if this is of interest to you. The summary would include:
1. The Israelites did have a notion of time similar to ours; duration and periods.
2. There was time in the sense of fulfillment.
3. Old Testament (Biblical Hebrew) "time" is not translated in the Greek as chronos (χρόνος) very often. This suggests a far more concrete notion in Old Testament times.
4. What matters most in the sense of time was what happened during the time, i.e. time is event-full. This would include the time of Creation, the time of the Exodus, etc.
Time (in the Old Testament).
One author suggested that a similarity between both testaments is that God is mentioned as both timeless and timely, both transcendent and immanent.
It's interesting to note that the Old Testament eventually settles into a lifespan maximum for humans of 120 years as does Egyptian society. Here's an interesting article about what the 120 years in Genesis actually means: To what do the 120 years in Genesis 6:3 refer?
Speaking of time (chronos), here's an interesting list of: Old Testament Books in Chronological Order.
Bonus
A King and His Servants
This bonus simply links to a PDF of an email I received from the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN): Israel. Anyone can sign up for free weekly devotionals and news updates: Subscribe.
"But if we are not careful, viewing our faith through the lens of ourselves—our own experience—can turn our faith self-centered and egocentric."
A King and His Servants.
Bonus2
From Spoiled Brat to Egypt's #2
I'll be sharing some insights about the life of Joseph as recorded in Genesis 37-50 at a PILLAR Institute class on May 27, 2025 from 10am-12pm at their headquarters (6385 Corporate Dr., Suite 200, Colorado Springs). Here are some teaser questions:What legitimate reasons did Joseph's brothers have to hate him?
What type of dreams were taken more seriously in the Ancient Near East?
Did Joseph's brothers sell Joseph into Egyptian slavery?
To what moral test was Joseph put right away in Egypt?
What advice does Joseph offer to the Pharoah?
Joseph had two sons, one named Mannaseh. What does Mannaseh mean?
How does Judah redeem himself?