Holy Time

Now is a holy time in the Church calendar. Forty days are set aside for Lent - time for focusing the Christian upon Christ's suffering and death for our salvation, preparing us for the joy of His resurrection. Such holy time is a blessing. Life has a way of eating up every spare moment so that our days are dictated by what we must do. Holy time sets aside the "must do" of life and allows us to reorient ourselves to that which brings lasting meaning to life.

Setting aside time as holy is foundational for a Biblical worldview. Etched into the fabric of creation is God setting aside one day - the seventh day - as a holy day. From that flows the Sabbath. Other days were set aside as holy - Yom Kippur, Passover, and more. The early Church set aside Sunday as a holy day for it was the day of Christ's resurrection. The Church has long followed the example of its earliest generation by setting aside certain days as holy. Christians have festivals - Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost. Christians have a variety of holy seasons including Lent. The season is marked as holy by specific means for the Christian to focus upon Christ's saving work. Congregations offer extra services in Lent (such as my congregation's noon and 7 pm services on Wednesdays in Lent). Others choose to partake in a Lenten fast for a variety of reasons, including the freeing of time to meditate upon Christ's work. 

The value of holy time is not restricted to the Biblical faith, but is found within life in general. Growing up, my parents established the dinner hour as holy time for our family. Unless given prior approval for an acceptable reason, we were expected to be at the dinner table every night. It was time to talk and therefore connect as a family. My wife and I have sought to do the same with our own children. Many studies have demonstrated the value of the family meal as holy time. 

Holy time is all about defining your priorities. You have time for what you make a priority. The big question is: what are your priorities? Even if you have not purposefully defined your priorities, you have them. Just look at how you spend your time and you will see what your priorities are. Whatever is indispensible in your schedule - that is what is holy to you.

Do you like what your time says about your priorities or do you need to redefine your holy time?