We know that David did much to stabilize the Kingdom of Israel. He fought a long series of wars to make Israel secure. He surrounded Israel with client kingdoms that at the very least were peaceful in their foreign relations towards him and Israel's God. But the one thing that David wanted to do more than anything else was to establish a permanent Temple on Mount Zion for the present and future use of the Lord God Almighty. He desired building a house for God where He alone might be honored and worshipped. David did not want to go to his final rest until the house of God was built. But, this hope was to be fulfilled by another, his son Solomon.

And so it is with us. After we have taken care of our private business; after we have gone about our worldly affairs with our envies and jealousies, our complaints and dissatisfactions, we find no time left to build a house for God. But the real tragedy of existence is not in its shortness, but rather, it is in its incompleteness. The Old Testament as well as the New Testament seems to be overloaded with great individuals with incomplete lives. Their hopes were not realized, their plans not perfected, their vision not actualized.

Abraham left the land of Ur to receive an inheritance of a country but he died not owning a single yard of land in Canaan except a grave. Jacob cherished the same hope but he died a stranger in a strange land.

Moses inherited the same glorious purpose. His vision, coupled with the inspiration from the burning bush, led him to establish Israel in their promised land in Canaan. This was the task for when he gave his life. Moses trained himself for a work for 40 years. He succeeded in converting a ravel of slaves into a nation of prestige and dignity. He succeeded in taking the Israelites across the Red Sea and away from the slavery of Egypt and away from Pharaoh's army. He succeeded in seeing them through difficult times. He took them to the edge of the Promised Land. But by a mandate from God, he never saw them settled there. Moses could not enter into the Promised Land. He died and was buried in an unknown grave somewhere in the land of Moab. He missed his aim. He never accomplished his purpose, he never finished his business.

So it was with John the Baptist, the martyr Stephen, the apostle Paul, John Kennedy, John Kennedy Jr. They have all joined with countless others, the gallant march with God's greats who went to their glory with their work undone, their business unfinished, their dreams unfulfilled, and their lives incomplete.

This suggests to me that we do not have time for a lot of petty, useless, senseless engagements. We need to stop wasting so much time in pettiness, trivialities and foolishness because in the midst of our wasted time in the insignificant, Mother Nature goes on about her business. Our clay houses fall to pieces but the sun goes right on shining. A man's body disintegrates but the moon continues to glow, the birds keep on singing and Father Time keeps on ticking.

TICK - TOCK

Tick tock,
Time winding down
Giving way to,
Eternity.

Tick tock,
Time submitting
To the command of,
Infinity.

Tick tock,
Time, sweet time
Acquiescing to,
Perpetuity.

Tick tock,
Our appointed
Destiny
Draws nigh.

Tick tock,
Time running out.
Prepare!
Evermore cometh.

Tick tock?
Tick tock?

Tick tock?

In the scrolls of history, there is only one Man who was able to accomplish everything He set out to do. He was King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He came forth into this world with a dying garment on. He was the root of Jesse and the seed of Abraham.

- It was Jesus and Jesus alone, in a death robe at Calvary's cross, who could look at a dying sin-sick world and declare, "It is finished."

- It was Jesus and Jesus alone, who could look at the men under the cross, fighting and gambling for His clothes and cry out, "It is finished."

- It was Jesus and Jesus alone, who could look His enemies in the face. Those who had ridiculed Him and criticized Him and tried to find something wrong with Him. Those who planned and plotted and schemed and connived against Him every chance they got; He looked at them and said, "It is finished."

- It was Jesus and Jesus alone, whose life was played out to the end.

- It was Jesus and Jesus alone, who could say without fear of contradiction, "It is finished."

The business for which He came to this earth was now finished. The battle had been won and from that point on, the wicked ceased from troubling and the weary One was now at rest.

But for the rest of us, it is never finished. Death creeps in on us before we get to do all the things we want to do. Watch what you do with your time.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available soon.

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