Using TIme Wisely

The last time I wrote about President Uchtdorf's talk Of Regrets and Resolutions, I mentioned that I should probably listen to the message again, but then I didn't have the time. I listened to it again this morning, and I now have something new I'd like to share.

Life is short. As President Uchtdorf put it, "We have a number of precious years which, in the eternal perspective, barely amount to the blink of an eye." No one knows exactly how long or short their lives will be, but almost without exception, everyone wishes their lives would be longer. But as Gandalf said in The Fellowship of the Ring (and you'll notice that I'm misquoting him by taking his words out of context), "-that is not for them to decide. All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

As Gandalf suggests and President Uchtdorf teaches, we must be wise with how we use our time on Earth, or we will someday regret it. In his talk, President Uchtdorf mentions many things that occupy much of our time, that in the eternal scheme of things, are somewhat trivial. Certain time-wasting websites and computer games come to mind. He then listed a few things that involve wiser uses of our time. Spending quality time with family was on the top of that list. President Uchtdorf advises us: "Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories."

This is excellent advice, but it isn't what really grabbed me this time. What spoke to me was the section below spending time with family, the one about living up to our potential. Once again, I quote from President Uchtdorf:

Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence. Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial?

I have occasionally pondered (in moments when my faith was waning) on whether it was fair for God to place eternal consequences on the decisions we make during our short, mortal lives. After removing all knowledge we had ever gained in our pre-earth life, after rendering us totally clueless, then comes the most important test of our entire existence? I may be exaggerating, but this is such a closed-book test that most of the students don't know they're even being tested!

But, of course, I am the one who's being unfair here. We're not nearly as clueless as I had supposed. God has given each of us the Light of Christ: a conscience that helps us recognize right from wrong. Through the Light of Christ, we can discern the truth of the teachings of prophets like President Uchtdorf. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, which can influence anyone, we can know that what he's telling us is true. In this "closed-book test" at least that one part of the book has been opened. And what he's telling us is that we need to stop wasting our time.

It's a bit of a paradox, in my opinion. Our Earth life only amounts to a blink of an eye in the eternal perspective, yet it's critical that we don't waste it.

When I think of a blink of an eye, I think of it as such an infinitesimally small period of time that it really doesn't matter whether that time gets wasted. I mean, really, how much can be done in the time period of a blink of an eye? On the other hand, when I think about life, I don't think in terms of heartbeats or split-seconds. I think of life in terms of years. How much do you think could be done in the time period of, say, a decade? How much progress could we make in that much time? How much work could be accomplished? How many memories could be created? How many lives could be blessed? How much more like our Savior could we be if we spent an entire decade working on it?

I've already used up two of my decades. Some of you may have already spent three. I can almost guarantee that we each have at least one or two left. More, if nothing tragic happens. What are we going to do with those decades? How are we going to spend that time? How much time are we going to spend on Facebook or Youtube? How much time we will spend with our family? How much time will we spend actively trying to become more like our Savior?

In the words of President Uchtdorf, "It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today... The path toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that eternal path today;" (Italics in the original.)

I agree with President Uchdorf. Eternal progression may take almost an eternity, but we'll reach that goal a little bit sooner if we start striving for it today.