“Time heals all wounds” is a proverb that suggests that with the passing of time the hurts that we experience will diminish and eventually be healed. We find some truth in the saying when we consider our own experiences in the loss of a loved one; the pangs of that loss decrease with the passing of time. But consider for a moment a few things that time cannot do.
The passing of time cannot change the heart from unbelief to belief, from rebellion to obedience. The truth of the gospel must be heard in order to produce belief: “And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard” (Romans 10:14)? But even when heard, it must fall upon an honest and good heart to be obeyed and to produce fruit (Luke 8:15). Felix heard the truth preached by Paul but did not change his will, for he said, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you” (Acts 24:25). A man is deceived when he believes that simply with the passing of time, his will, his “want to”, will just somehow change. The time to change is now; the time to obey is now. The passing of time does not change the will of man to obey.
The passing of time cannot remove the guilt of sin. “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced” (2 Corinthians 12:20-21). Some of these Christians had sinned beforehand and had not repented. The passing of time did not take care of their sins. They needed to repent and confess their sins and bring forth fruits of repentance, fleeing these sins. When Simon the Samaritan sinned, he was told by the apostle Peter to repent and to pray for forgiveness (Acts 8:22), giving us a pattern for the Christian to be forgiven of sins he commits. God is faithful and just to forgive His children if they confess their sins to Him (1 John 1:9). Christians must not let the burden of guilt of a wrong they commit just fade over time, like a fog that slowly lifts, without repenting and asking God for forgiveness. Because we don’t feel the pain of sin as strongly as we once did does not equal forgiveness. Forgiveness is in God’s book, and we must follow His conditions for it.
Finally, the passing of time does not bring spiritual growth. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12). The passing of time did not bring them spiritual growth, for the passing of time alone cannot do that. Spiritual growth comes through committed effort on the part of the Christian. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). “I’ve been a Christian for 30 years,” one may say, but that says nothing about his spiritual maturity. We cannot think that once we are Christians then we will just automatically grow given the passing of time; it requires diligence in learning and doing the word of God.
Don’t let the devil deceive you. The passing of time will not somehow bring a man to the obedience of faith, will not bring the forgiveness of sin, and does not equate to spiritual growth. While the healing of hurts can come with the passing of time, these others require our will and effort. Let us then have the right attitude toward time: Today is the only day I’ve been given to will and to do.
-Larry Jones