With a 5 and 6 year old in the house, I have recently taken on the task of teaching them how to tell time with an analog clock. We have a little demonstration clock where you can move the hands to different positions, and as I move the hands they practice discerning the time. My 6 year old is getting especially good at figuring it out.
However, knowing how to tell time is a skill that only gives us an advantage when we know what events are tied to those times. Bed time is at 8pm. Lunch time is at noon. These are some of the known events in the schedule of a 6 year old. But if I say, “We are going to get ice cream later”, it is not tied to a specific time of day. She can’t look at the clock and know when it is time to go for ice cream, because I didn’t tell her what time we are going.
In the same manner, Jesus spent time teaching his disciples to “tell time” by looking at the signs around them and to be watching and praying because the kingdom of heaven was “at hand”. It came as no surprise, then, that just before Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples wanted to know precisely what time Jesus was going to complete his work, overthrow the governments of the world, set up his kingdom, and have every knee bow before Him. They had been taught to discern the times and keep an eye on the clock, but the specific day of Christ’s return had not been revealed.
Instead of allowing them to be satisfied with a specific time or season to anticipate, Jesus gave them (and us) a different task until that time comes. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). In other words, he was telling them not to become so consumed with the day that is coming (and for which we won’t be given specific knowledge) that we neglect to redeem the time we have right now. Every mature Christian should be looking at the signs in our world today. We see every evil known to mankind continuing to increase in the world around us and can tell that the distance between now and the return of the Lord is closing fast.
If we were to know the specific time of when Jesus would return, we could be tempted to simply sit back in our lounge-chair of faith and chant “even so come, Lord Jesus”. We could be tempted to cloister ourselves away to some safe place to keep us away from the crises we see in the world. We could be tempted to make statements and take actions that are counter-productive to our testimonies and to the proclaiming of the gospel of Christ. So, God keeps that “in his own power” and tells us that “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons”.
Jesus tells us what we are to do instead. Remember that you have received power by the Holy Ghost to be equipped to perform the task given for TODAY. Be confident in your work in the gospel (it still has the power to change lives!). Discern the times and realize that the time we have is short. There is no time to sit back and relax as Jesus could return any time. While we wait for that day, our witness must continue and we must be “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)