A photo posted on Facebook reminded me of this poem; we are all familiar with the admonition to use time wisely, and this poem puts it in context with our Christian mission.

“Ticking Time, Losing Life” (#15)
Every day, we are called to do Your work,
To bring life to a world of death and quirk.
And yet, we put You off with the same old line-
“Later, God-when I have more time.”
And yet time is ticking away, the remainder of our lives;
Man is losing life, no matter how he strives
To save it. We need to put our focus back on God
To whom belongs all praise and laud.
For the words He spoke in Matthew 10:39 are true:
If a man seeks to save his life, that life he will lose.
But, if we live our lives for the Lord,
Then we begin the life-long journey toward
True life-both here and spiritually;
In the short time here, we should be
Living for our Lord, every moment of the day,
For only God knows how long we will stay
On this planet-we should live every day
As if it were our last. Then, when Death comes to take us away
From this world, we may be ready to meet the Lord that day.
So live your lives in faith, dear children, and be ready to leave
This planet, and from your hearts cleave
The love of the world, and focus your mind on the task before you-and be not left behind.