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My father meant the world to me. Every year for his birthday or Father’s day I would strive to find just the right gift. He never asked for anything. I was always so proud to present him with my gift of love. He was always appreciative and grateful but I could tell that he never really was thrilled with any gift I gave him. I didn’t understand why until I became a father myself and understood even better once my first born spread his wings and headed out to make a life for himself. There is only one thing a father truly wants from his children. It is the one gift only they can give. All a father truly wants is more of their time.

Time is the one thing that makes all men equal. Rich, poor, powerful, lowly, free, or slave, all men get the same amount of time. We are given one day at a time. Twenty-four hours to spend as we see fit. Once it is gone we will never get it back. Time is the most precious treasure we are given. With time we can make or take a life. With time we can save or we can squander.

What has more value – something we treasure and put away, like expensive jewelry or fine china, or something we use all of the time? The common thought is that the more valuable something is the less we use it. We bring out the good china for special events like a big family Christmas dinner. We put on the good jewelry only when we are going out for that special night on the town. The rest of the time is it safely tucked away, protected from losing its value.

If time is the most precious treasure we possess then it stands to reason that whatever we spend more of our time on or with is more important to us. By this rational the plastic plates and cheap flatware that I use every day is more valuable to me than that set of china I got when I was traveling the world. By that very same notion all video games, TV, and other useless garbage I do must be more meaningful to me than my father, my wife, or my children seeing I spend much more of my limited time doing those things than spending time with those who mean the most to me.

How much of that twenty-four hours do you spend with God? The great commandment is to love your God with all of your heart, all of your strength, all of your soul, and all of your being. You cannot love someone that strongly that you do not spend time with. Yet, many of us find it difficult to impossible to even give God fifteen minutes of our precious day. We make sure we have time to sleep. Many of us never miss a meal. Far too many of us are working more than forty hour weeks. We spend hours a day on social media or gossiping about who is cheating on whom.

Obviously it is not a matter of having enough time. It becomes a matter of priority. What truly matters in your life? Where do you spend your time and money? The devil wants us to squander the limited time we are given. He wants us to get to the end our lives and realize that we didn’t spend enough time with our parents or our children. He wants us to put social media and video games ahead of showing our love for God. A love not expressed is a love that does not exist.  For God so loved the world that he was preoccupied with creating rocks and trees and bugs that he forgot to send his only begotten son so that all who believed in him would have eternal life.

Call your parents. Spend time with your children. Talk to God in everything you do. One day the days you have been given will turn to seconds and slip away like the sand through a hourglass.