"While all that borrows life from thee is ever in thy care."

Hymn: “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” – Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Common Tunes: FOREST GREEN, ELLACOMBE

Generally speaking, we Christians have to be reminded often that our very existence is on loan to us. Our minutes, our days, our years – our lifetime – are not truly ours; these are borrowed from the eternal timeline of the mighty, powerful God who made the mountains rise, spread the flowing seas, and built the lofty skies.

Time has become one of our most precious commodities. In some ways, we are more protective of our calendars than we are our bank accounts. Unlike my bank, I do not get an alert from heaven’s Timekeeper to let me know that my account is under 500 hours… that I’m running out of time.

From secular marketing, I picked up a lot of personal rules for my ministry. One guiding force was the hook from a Cadillac print ad I saw in the early 80’s: “We respect your time almost as much as you do.” That’s one I followed religiously… so to speak!

We DO value our time, especially our free time – our time away from our income-producing hours. If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to hoard those free moments… forgetting that ALL our time is on loan from the Time Bank. Unlike Joshua, we may not be able to make the sun sit still or stop the fast-ticking clocks while we conquer our time-consuming enemies. We CAN, however, be reminded by hymnlines like this one that we are truly on “borrowed time.”

Watts points out that however much time we are appropriated, the Time Giver does not lose track of us – we are ever in his care. He is constantly securing his loan! (Don’t try to turn that into a good banking analogy.)

This hymnline runs parallel to Psalm 31:15: “My time, O Lord, is in your hand.” The One whose hand provides us with life also holds us. The Time Loaner is also our Caretaker.

Thank you, Isaac Watts, for the aide memoire!

Hear This Hymn to the ELLACOMBE Tune