”For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come.”

A lot of birds have sung and gone since Solomon penned these words. A lot of people have too. All their songs, joys, hopes and fears have gone with them. Those who observed the spring just one hundred years ago in 1866 have long since ceased to sing or mourn or rejoice or despair. The same will be true of us who observe the spring of 1966 for in a few years we shall follow them to the grave. Those as yet unborn will then be rejoicing over the prospects of spring and, if like most, filling that spring time as they do the winter, fall and summer with plans, thoughts and activities that completely crowd God out of their life. That is, they will, if Christ has not yet come. From the signs of the times, he will have come before very many if even another spring time appears. Whatever it was that took all the time and attention of those who lived just a hundred years ago, it was all a waste of time except for those few who dedicated their lives to the Lord. Their hopes, dreams, aspirations, problems and worries all died with them. Their money was left behind, their homes occupied by their heirs, their businesses run by others and they ”being in honor abideth not, they are like the beasts that perish.”

We know this is true. Yet, where are we laying up our treasure, what is taking our time, what have we done since last spring that has any lasting value? Time is so short, so precious, just what are we doing to redeem it?
In 1866 Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller were busily engaged in amassing huge fortunes. John Thomas and Robert Roberts were also busy that year in studying their Bibles and serving the Lord. All four men are dead. Rockefeller gave away to charity some 600 million dollars. He and Carnegie were successful beyond anyones wildest dreams. Their names will live long in financial history. John Thomas and Robert Roberts are unheard of by the world at large. Each one of these men had 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year 1866. They each spent those hours in the way they thought was important. Now they are all dead. Who do we now think spent his time most profitably? From a financial view point certainly Rockefeller and Carnegie. From God’s viewpoint these two men are like the beasts that perish. John Thomas and Robert Roberts spent their time in the service of the King. In whose service are we spending our time? None of us will ever achieve the success of Carnegie or Rockefeller but are we spending our time on things as unimportant from God’s viewpoint as they did?

Can we learn a lesson from the lives of these four men? Can we realize as we see the flowers begin to appear and hear the birds singing that only those things we do for the Lord are of any lasting value? Truly ”seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease,” but we shall unless our name is recorded in the Book of Life and if it is, then we ”shall shine as the brightness of the firmament... and as the stars for ever and ever.”