Most Precious Commodity
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 58:3) states, "Reb Akiva was teaching Torah and saw that his students were falling asleep. To awaken them, he asked, 'Why did Esther rule over 127 countries? It's because her ancestor Sarah lived 127 years.'"
The Chidushei HaRim zt'l explains that this awakened his students because it taught them to utilize each minute of life to its fullest. Had Sarah, chas veshalom, wasted a year of her life, her descendant, Esther, wouldn’t have ruled over the 127 countries.
The Chidushei HaRim elaborates, "Each week of Sarah's life granted Esther a city. Each hour granted Esther a town worth thousands. This means that when one oversleeps, he's losing thousands of rubles!" This jolted Reb Akiva's students awake, for they became aware of what they could earn with time. There's no greater loss than lost time.
About Avraham it states (24:1), בא זקן ואברהם בימים, "Avraham was old. He came with his days..." This also indicates that he utilized every moment of his life for avodas Hashem. He came with all his days.
In a letter, the Yismach Moshe zt'l, encouraged his son to be cautious not to waste time. He writes, "'ה למען, For Hashem's sake..."
