NOTE: The following article was published in L’OBSERVATEUR in October 2007.

Recently, the discussion in a small group was about wasted time. The question was: Are you guilty of continually wasting time?

I think most people, if they are honest, will admit to wasting time.

Time is something that we can never recapture. We take it for granted and act as though we have an unlimited supply.

In my lifetime, I’ve been blessed and don’t have many regrets, but, sometimes, I reflect on all the time I wasted when my children were young.

What would I have done differently? I would have given my family more quality time. I would have cut down on the time I spent away from home attending non-productive meetings and on the wasted time spent in barrooms participating in meaningless conversation.

All the things I would have done differently really doesn’t matter now. That time is gone and lost forever. What matters now is how I spend the time I have left in this short lifetime.

What will my priorities be? Will I spend time on things that don’t have any eternal value or will I focus on leaving a legacy of integrity that my family and friends will remember?

God doesn’t promise us tomorrow but commands us to live each day aware of opportunities in which we can be a witness for Christ.

One person in the group said that he heard a testimony about a man who, on his 50th birthday, made a decision not to waste any more time. He figured if he lived to be 75, he would have 1300 weeks to live.

He went to the store and bought 1300 marbles. He put them in a jar and as a reminder of the passing of time, took a marble out of the jar every Saturday and threw it away – gone forever.

I was impressed with the testimony and said that at age 73, all I have is about 100 marbles left. My sarcastic friend, Hennis Roussel, the trainer for the Lutcher football team, said, “You’ve never been accused of having too many marbles.”

Of course, everyone laughed at my expense.

Talking about wasted time — sometimes we are guilty of wasted words! (That’s one for you, Hennis!)

NOTE: Hennis, one of my best friends, died last week at age 46. He was an excellent teacher at Lutcher High School, a great friend and had a good sense of humor, but most of all, he was a Christian who touched many people in his short time.

If you have any questions or comments, please write Harold Keller at Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA70084, call 985-652-8477 or email hkeller@comcast.net.