Apple Watch and Time

I love my Apple Watch. Primarily, that’s because Apple Watch is one of only a handful of fitness trackers which monitors heart rate during a swim. The watch’s GPS function allows me to track my cycling workouts effortlessly. Apple Watch also connects with Apple Fitness+, which I use for weight training, yoga, and core workouts; the two apps sync to track time, calories, and heart rate during my sessions.

Alas, this past week I was swimming when my watch went black and displayed only the Apple logo. I stopped swimming to restart my watch, but it never worked again. I took my watch to the Apple Store, and, as I had feared, my watch was dead—somehow water got in it while I was swimming. Since Apple Watch is designed for swimming (and many other water sports), the damage was covered under warranty, and my helpful tech sent my destroyed one in for a replacement at no charge. But my watch was barely covered under warranty; I only had five days of warranty remaining. If my watch had died this week, I would have needed to pay nearly $300 for Apple to replace my watch.

I never gave serious consideration to protecting my watch through Apple’s extended warranty program (I have it for my watch now!), and I almost ended up paying a decent chunk of change to have it replaced. I made it just in the nick of time.

Too often in life we don’t appreciate the opportunities we have until time has completely run out. In a context of life’s brevity, James wrote, “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (Js 4:17); in context, James said because we don’t know how much life we have left, failing to do right is sin. It’s not a simple matter of “sins of omission;” it’s a matter of omitting the right thing because you don’t know how much longer you’ll be in this world.

You see, I didn’t realize how little time my watch’s warranty had; you don’t know how little time you have in this world. Therefore, it’s always time to do right. Since you may be gone from this world later today, what good do you need to do?

• Do you need to seek forgiveness for some word spoken in anger?
• Do you need to tell your neighbor about the great God you serve?
• Do you need to stop and visit someone you’ve been meaning to stop and see?
• Do you need to forgive some wrong committed against you?
• Do you need to seek help for some sin that’s trapped you in its jaws?
• Do you need to encourage a struggling brother or sister?
• Do you need to counsel your children to remain faithful to their God?

The time on my watch’s warranty was almost up; your time on this earth may almost up. If today were your last day of life, what good would you regret having not done? Get busy and do that good; your warranty might be about to expire.

This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.