The Clock

Grasping Time from God's Perspective

Eternity is a hard thing for our adult minds to grasp. Children, on the other hand, seem to embrace "forever" and "heaven" wholeheartedly. They don't have to see something to believe it is real.

I realized recently how I misunderstood a foundational scripture about eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says,

"[God] has also set eternity in the human heart" - Ecclesiastes 3:11

I had thought of this more as a metaphor, emphasizing how God has heaven prepared for us and longs to be with us forever. Though these are true, it's not what the writer of Ecclesiastes meant. What this scripture tells us is God has set eternity in every human heart, meaning every soul is immortal. We will all live forever, but where we live - heaven or hell - is our choice.

I want my children to understand this more clearly, so I want to start this conversation about eternity now. To create a fun bridge to this conversation, I've chosen a beautiful book which is based on a true story. It's called The Clock by Pam Fong.

Fong's rich background in the art world comes through as both the author and illustrator. Every page is a painting which captivates our attention and the words lead us to value art together. Here's the summary from the inside cover:

In early twentieth-century Paris, a new train station - the Gare d'Orsay - was a marvel to everyone who saw it. With stunning architecture and the first trains to be powered by electricity, the station welcomed the world. At the heart of the station was a brilliant clock that hung high above the crowds.

The clock was essential in keeping the station humming. It was as beautiful as it was important. Until it was not.

The expanding city soon outgrew the station. The crowds moved elsewhere, and the clock was abandoned. But memories are strong, and a love of beauty remains.

In this poignant nonfiction account of the transformation of a Paris train station into the world-class Musee d'Orsay (Orsay Museum), Pam Fong invites readers to experience the decades-long journey of a resilient clock, and to discover a lasting truth - there is always time for second chances.

Here are a few thoughts to help prepare you for this intentional pause with your little one(s). I like to use a 3-Connection strategy in the following order:

·      Connect with Me

·      Connect with Another Book/Story I Know

·      Connect with My World / My Reality

After this, I like to lead us through a simple prayer. Whether it’s bedtime or playtime, it’s important to teach our kids we can talk to God whenever, wherever we are. This is an easy way to model this with them.

1. Connect With Me

Before reading The Clock, I like to start with an opening question. This helps the reader (child) prepare to connect their own experiences with the story. This is an important step if the application of the story, usually the moral/lesson, is going to “stick.” Consider asking questions like:

·      Why do we have clocks?

·      What does it mean to be given a "second chance"? Think of a time when you were given a second chance. What was it and how did it make you feel? What happened the second time that was different than the first?

2. Read the Story

I recommend reading the story to your child or if your child is able, read together. Reading together can take on many forms, such as:

·      The child reads independently only pausing when help sounding out/context clues from illustration is needed

·      Help build stamina – child reads one page, adult reads the next, so on.

·      Adult primarily reads but child reads the page(s) they know (especially true if this is a book which has been read before and is familiar to the child)

·      Adult primarily reads and points to each word as he/she reads and allows the child to read certain sight words known, such as “the” or “cat” etc.

·      Adult reads the words while the child enjoys (and “reads”) the pictures.

3. Connect With Another Book/Story I Know

After reading The Clock, it’s time to help the child make a deeper connection – this time to another book or story they know. To help bring a spiritual truth to a secular story, help guide the child to remember biblical stories they know, or ones you can introduce to them. Guiding questions for this title may be similar to the following:

·      Wow! It's such a beautiful clock! It's hard to believe people forgot about it and abandoned it.

·      Did you know God's people - that's us - we are prone to make this same mistake? It's not a clock we're forgetful of but a special gift.

·      Let's read about this gift in the Bible together. We need to open to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 to read about God's view of time. Can you do me a favor? Every time you hear the word "time" read, I want you to flash your hands like jazz hands in the air! As we start, we'll see the author of Ecclesiastes is explaining to us there is a time for everything and we will experience good times and hard times in all of our lives. Alright, got those jazz hands ready?!

There's a Right Time for Everything There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: ²     a time to be born and a time to die,     a time to plant and a time to uproot, ³     a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,     a time to mourn and a time to dance, ⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, ⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,     a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,     a time to be silent and a time to speak, ⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace. ⁹ What do workers gain from their toil?

In other words, he's asking: what's the point? Why work so hard if we're not guaranteed good things all the time? He continues and answers his own question for us.

¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. ¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,     and what will be has been before;     and God will call the past to account. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

·      God not only created time but is above time! Remember in Genesis when God created the world and created day and night. That is when He created time for us. He established how long day would last and same for night - twenty-four hours for one day. He also set the earth in motion around the sun. One trip around the sun takes how long? That's right! 365 days! That is how we get the time of "one year." So you are 5 years old... that's 365 days 5 times, which equals = 1825 days. And it's not your birthday so you're even older than this! But remember, God not only created time, He is above time! This means one day on earth is not the same length of time as one day in heaven. It's hard for us to understand this but we can trust God's word is true.

4. Connect with My World/Reality

In this passage of scripture, it told us something special God set in every human heart. What was it? Yep! Eternity! Do you know what eternity is?

Eternity is time that never ends; eternity is forever! That means when God created humans, when He created us, He made us immortal. That's a big word meaning live forever. Sure, our bodies are temporary but our souls live forever. That's true for every single one of us. But, God is the gentleman of all gentlemen. He does not force His will upon us but let's us choose our own way. We get to choose where we will spend forever. If we believe in the gift of His Son and not abandon His sacrifice, we get to live forever with God in heaven. But, if we abandon this beautiful gift of Jesus and His sacrifice, if we choose to live for ourselves and not for God, our sins are not forgiven and we will not enter the kingdom of God.

In the same way, this story told of how some people abandoned the clock while others remembered, loved, cherished and saw its immense importance, some people abandon the Father of time and their Creator God. Still, many remember God, love God, cherish God and recognize the immense importance and value of following God's way through His Son, Jesus's, example.

You see, we all have a never-ending clock, the most beautiful clock inside of us: eternity. We will live forever! What a precious gift! Even more precious is the gift we receive when we believe in Jesus as our Savior and Friend! We, like the clock in this story, get a second chance! Jesus made a way for us to be right with God again. Because Jesus is holy and died for our sins, we are forgiven and can experience the gift of forever life with God now and forever in heaven!

Family Memory Verse Challenge:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us:

“[God] has also set eternity in the human heart”

Tips to make it "stick" -

• Save this as your phone wallpaper or home screen as a reminder to say this together in all your comings and goings this week.

• Print or copy this verse to a post-it note to put on the fridge or a family memo board.

• Write it on a napkin to add to your child's lunchbox.

• Write it together with chalk on the sidewalk one afternoon or draw pictures of the "good" you see God provide for you and your family.
  

Then ask your child(ren): How can we practice living with an eternal perspective rather than a temporary and forgetful perspective?

5. Pray Together

Let’s pray together.

God, thank you for creating us from the very beginning as eternal, forever beings. We know you did this because you are Love and you love us so much and want to live with us forever. You want a forever, never-ending relationship and friendship with us. Thank you for stories like this one about a clock in Paris to help remind us of this. Help us to live with an eternal perspective rather than a temporary and forgetful perspective in all parts of our day, , like: ______________. Help us to remember, love, cherish and value the gift of your Son. We love you and we honor you with our words and our actions. In Jesus’ name, amen.

May we be strengthened as we soak our minds in the truth of scripture and joy as we remember God's presence is always with us, no matter what we step in. May we experience peace in all circumstances as we practice trusting God and may we rest in His great, unfathomable love for us.

For more examples of children's stories and how to connect "the Sunday stuff" to "the Monday stuff" for your family, check out the children's section at www.CandaceCofer.com

The good life, well it starts with a good day. Then another. Then another. Let's choose to live #TheGoodDay one day at a time.