It keeps our priorities in order.
The purpose of time is to keep track of changes in events.
Without time, you will not be able to manage your life efficiently.
Time is very important because it satisfies all our needs. There are times when we bathe, work, eat, sleep, hope, love, etc. That's why we need time. It is the reason why we could do such things. Without it, we can't do anything.
Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on Earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives. Remembering our mortality helps us to realise that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfilment.
Does Time Flow?
"It is as if we were floating on a river, carried by the current past the manifold of events which is spread out timelessly on the bank," said one philosopher trying to capture time's flow with a helpful metaphor. Santayana offered another: "The essence of nowness runs like fire along the fuse of time." The philosopher's goal is to clarify the idea of time's flow, the passage of time. Everyone agrees that the passage of time "appears" to us humans to flow, although few scientists or philosophers believe that all conscious beings recognize the flow; crocodiles don't. Even if time does flow, there is the additional question of whether the flow can change. Can physical time's flow be slower on Friday afternoon, compared to Monday morning?
There are two categories of theories of time's flow. The first, and most popular among physicists, is that the flow is an illusion, the product of a faulty metaphor. Time exists, things change, but time doesn't flow objectively, although there may well be some objective feature of our brains that causes us to believe we are experiencing a flow of time; but in that case time flows only in a subjective sense of the term. This theory of time's flow is normally the one adopted by those who believe McTaggart's B-series is more fundamental than his A-series. The theory is sometimes characterized as a "myth-of-passage" theory.
The second category of theories of time's flow contains theories implying that the flow is objective, a feature of our mind-independent reality that is to be found in, say, today scientific laws, or, if it has been missed there, then in future scientific laws. These theories are called "dynamic theories" of time. This sort of theory of time's flow is closer to common sense, and has historically been the more popular theory among philosophers. Any theory in this second category is called a "dynamic theory."
Some dynamic theories imply that the flow is a matter of events changing from being indeterminate in the future to being determinate in the present and past. Time's flow is really events becoming determinate. Thus dynamic theorists speak of time's flow as "temporal becoming." Another dynamic theory implies that the flow is a matter of events changing from being future, to being present, to being past. This is the kind of flow associated with McTaggart's A-series of events.
Opponents of dynamic theories complain that when events change in these senses, the change is not a real change in the event's essential, intrinsic properties, but only in the event's relationship to the observer. For example, saying the death of Queen Anne is an event that changes from present to past is no more of a real change in the event than saying her death changed from being approved of to being disapproved of. This extrinsic change in approval doesn't count as a real change in her death, and neither does the so-called change from present to past. Attacking the notion of time's flow in this manner, Grünbaum said: "Events simply are or occur...but they do not 'advance' into a pre-existing frame called 'time.' ...[T]ime is a system of relations between events, and as events are, so are their relations. An event does not move and neither do any of its relations." So, Grünbaum denies the objective nature of McTaggart's A-series and points out that the flow of time is an illusion or myth.
Instead of arguing that events change their properties, some advocates of the dynamic theory of time embrace the flow of time by saying that the flow is reflected in the change over time of truth values of a sentence. For example, the sentence "It is now raining" was true during the rain yesterday but has changed to false on today's sunny day. It's these sorts of truth value changes that are at the root of time's flow. In response, critics suggest that the indexical (or token reflexive) sentence "It is now raining" has no truth value because the reference of "now" is unspecified. If it can't have a truth value it can't change its truth value. However, the sentence is related to a sentence that does have a truth value. Supposing it's now midnight here on April 1, 2007 in Sacramento, California, then the indexical sentence "It is now raining" is related to the more complete, context-explicit sentence "It is raining at midnight on April 1, 2007 in Sacramento." Only these non-indexical, non-context-dependent, complete sentences have truth values, and these truth values don't change with time. So, events don't change their properties because sentences don't change their truth values.
Other advocates of the flow of time ask us to re-consider the situation by focusing on facts that come into existence. The fact that it is raining at midnight on April 1, 2007 here in Sacramento is a fact that came into existence in 2007 but did not exist in 2000. This coming into existence of facts, the actualization of new states of affairs, is time's flow. In other words, what facts there are depends upon what time it is, and this is the key to the proper analysis of the metaphor of time's flow.
The purpose for our time is laid out in this passage.
Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
It's important to human beings because...
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
What is it that is estimated retreating? Time, is the shore, the tide, and it is retreating from the shoreline. It is the wave that crashes on the shore, in that second, and is then cleared away, and never returned, then the second wave, and then more waves and so on. These are the times and tides, they are important because they never return.
Time is a necessary illusion that keeps things from seeming to happen all at once.
Love and blessings Don