Training for Godliness in a Life That Feels Like It’s Flying By
- meetgodattheedgeof
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
1 Timothy 4:8-9
[8] “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” [9] This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.
Time.
I remember when I was young, my dad told me that the older I got, the faster time would go by. I looked at him like he was crazy. I thought, “Time doesn’t speed up or slow down.” I thought I was really smart back then.
Now I look back at that thought and laugh.
Our time is so filled with activities, work, and other things that it is going by amazingly fast. It’s almost scary when I stop and think about it. My kids are suddenly older and as tall as me. My wife and I are suddenly older. I remember celebrating my dad’s birthdays when he was my age.
Time shows no signs of slowing down. It flew by.
Dad was right.
The thought that came to me this morning after my prayer time was how I need to take advantage of each minute—each second. Training for godliness doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when we are intentional with the time we’ve been given. If I am not intentionally trying to glorify God with each second I’ve been given, I am not trying hard enough. If I am not thanking God for each second that passes, I am not trying hard enough.
Each second is a gift. Each breath is a gift. Let’s use each of them to praise and thank the Lord.
Your life is a gift. Take a minute and think of all the gifts you’ve been given—all the seconds filled with joy, all the seconds filled with grief, all the seconds filled with anger, and all the seconds filled with love. All of these are gifts, each with their own purpose. None would exist without the other.
I pray that your perspective on the time you’ve been given has changed.
Each time you take a breath, thank the Lord by being obedient with what you know is right.
Each second that passes, thank the Lord by enjoying the gifts He’s provided. What better way to show our thankfulness than to enjoy our time with loved ones? Or to enjoy the things He’s provided, like a vacation or the financial means to make something happen? This is part of training for godliness—learning to live gratefully and obediently with what God has placed in our hands.
As a dad, I totally understand that thought. When I buy my son a remote-control airplane for Christmas, it brings me great joy to see him use and enjoy what I gave him. If earthly fathers are that way, how much more is our Heavenly Father? Exceedingly!
Father, please help us use each breath and each second wisely. We thank You for our lives filled with gifts from You. Thank You, Father, for one more day.
Amen.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
[3] God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. [4] Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— [5] not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.
