Have you got the time?

A couple of weeks ago a national newspaper ran a a story accusing the BBC of 'absurd political correctness' after they dropped the terms BC and AD in case they offend non-Christians! It seems that The Corporation has replaced the familiar AD and BC with the more obscure terms CE and BCE. Now CE usually stands for "Common Era." AD is an abbreviation for "Anno Domini" in Latin or "the year of the Lord" in English. Both measure the number of years since the approximate birthday of Jesus of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ) a little over two millennia ago. CE and AD have the same value. That is 1 CE = 1 AD, and 2011 CE = 2011 AD. The word "common" simply means that it is based on the most frequently used calendar system: the Gregorian Calendar. BCE stands for "Before the common era." BC means "Before Christ," Both measure the number of years before the approximate birthday of Jesus. Designation of a year in BC and BCE also have identical values.  Many people assume that Jesus was born at the end of 1 BCE. However, most theologians and religious historians estimate from evidence within the Bible that he was born in the fall of a year, sometime between 7 and 4 BC. Of course, one has the option of interpreting the letter "C" in CE and BCE as referring to "Christian" or "Christ's," in place of "common. "CE" then becomes "Christian Era." "BCE" becomes "Before the Christian Era."!!

In the UK and across the Western World we seem to be slightly obsessed with time we measure it, we use it we lose it, we waste it? Generally most of us these days don’t seem to have enough time i.e. we are too busy! Or we can waste time i.e. how much time do you spend on the Xbox or watching the TV? In a couple of weeks time we will “lose” an hour when the clocks go back from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time!! Now have you ever thought about how God doesn't see time as you and I do? The Bible tells us that to God, one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years are as one day. He sees the past, present, and future all at once, for He is over time. That blows my mind. We are so finite. We begin, we end. God always was, is, and will be. Isn't that amazing? When we get to heaven, there will be no clocks, no calendars - just unlimited time. That unsettles me. Clocks and calendars give order to my life. A place with no time just boggles my mind. But we'll never be tired, and that will be great! Even though God is over time, at the perfect time He became one of us - as a baby boy. He invaded history right on time - BC/AD - it was the zero hour - to show us Himself and save us from sin and offer us eternal life with Him - timeless life. Isn't that amazing? Won't you take "time" to consider this?