And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5, ESV)
If you like to play golf late in the day on a summer evening, then you’ll appreciate the efforts of one William Willett of Great Britain. In 1907 he published a pamphlet titled “The Waste of Daylight,” in which he proposed that clocks should be advanced by 80 minutes in four steps each April and turned back the same way each September.
It was his way of increasing daylight recreation time. And that was at least in part because he wanted to have more daylight for his summer golf. I get that.
British-born George Hudson of New Zealand gets most of the credit for daylight saving time. Hudson came up with the idea in 1895, proposing to shift the clocks two hours. What he really wanted was more time to collect insects. Worthy, I suppose, but hardly as worthy as more time to play golf.
Another man proposed a way to save daylight way back in 1774. Benjamin Franklin’s idea: get up earlier.
Of all God’s gifts to us in Genesis 1, time, food, seasons, etc., there isn’t a single one that, somewhere along the way, we haven’t failed to steward wisely.Of course, here in Arizona we look askance at the whole thing, living permanently on Mountain Standard Time. I haven’t forgotten to set my clock forward or back since I’ve lived here.
Although Franklin’s “early to bed and early to rise” paper was written as satire, it actually comes closest to the Bible. “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” That was the first day, and it marks the creation of time, something God gave us for our benefit.
Astute readers of Genesis will note that God expanded on the creation of time three days later by creating “seasons and days and years.” And he made two great lights, one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. That was the fourth day.
Of all God’s gifts to us in Genesis 1, time, food, seasons, etc., there isn’t a single one that, somewhere along the way, we haven’t failed to steward wisely. Or at least there isn’t a single one that I haven’t failed to steward wisely. Perhaps you’ve done better.
Time is one that I waste and redeem, and a silly (to me) thing like daylight saving time reminds me that I need to steward it better. It would be wonderful if, somehow, we could really save time and use it more efficiently later.
But the truth still is, there is one day and then another. May we use them well.
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Lewis Greer
November 13, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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