Time

“The U.S. government calculates the country's official time using more than a dozen atomic clocks at a federal facility northwest of Denver. But when a destructive windstorm knocked out power to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratory in Boulder on Wednesday and a backup generator subsequently failed, time ever so slightly slowed down. The lapse "resulted in NIST UTC [universal coordinated time] being 4.8 microseconds slower than it should have been," NIST spokesperson Rebecca Jacobson said in an email. That's just under 5 millionths of a second. To understand just how brief an instant that is, Jacobson noted that it takes a person about 350,000 microseconds to blink…By Saturday evening, power had been restored to the NIST facility in Boulder, and crews were working to evaluate the damage and correct the 4.8 microsecond drift in due time.”*

If you have ever wished that time would slow down, I guess you finally got your wish! Think about all you can get done in those extra 4.8 microseconds. The truth is, as long as we are breathing, we all have the same amount of time available to us. We all have only the relatively brief moment we call “today.” We have used up the past and the future is not yet available to us. James reminds us that we are “...a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). So instead of trying to live in the past or the future, it is best to make the most of today. “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity” (Colossians 4:5). “So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

God loves you!

Mike

*npr.org; “How a power outage in Colorado caused U.S. official time to be 4.8 microseconds off”; December 21, 2025