SCRIPTURE
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the Heavens:
A Time To Be Born And A Time To Die,
A Time To Plant And A Time To Uproot,
A Time To Kill and A Time To Heal,
A Time To Tear Down And A Time To Build,
A Time To Weep And A Time To Laugh,
A Time To Mourn And A Time To Dance,
A Time To Scatter Stones And A Time To Gather Them,
A Time To Embrace And A Time To Refrain From Embracing,
A Time To Search And A Time To Give Up,
A Time To Keep And A Time To Throw Away,
A Time To Tear And A Time To Mend,
A Time To Be Silent and A Time To Speak,
A Time To Love And A Time To Hate,
A Time For War, And A Time For Peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
SPOTLIGHT
Warren Wiersbe tells the story of a man in Boston who was entertaining a famous Chinese scholar. He met his Asian friend at the train station and quickly rushed him to the subway. As they were running to catch the next train, the host panted to his guest, “If we run and catch this next train, we will save three minutes!” Wisely the Chinese philosopher asked, “And what significant thing shall we do with the three minutes we are saving?”
How well do you use your time? Do you “spend” it wisely? When you save 3 minutes, what do you do with that time? Every human being has been given the same number of hours to live. A rich person does not have more hours than a poor person. You may not be rich with money, but you are rich with time. Are you making time for everything that God considers to be important?
Solomon, who was King David’s son, was the author of Ecclesiastes. He succeeded his father on the throne. Without a doubt, he was a very busy person who took his responsibilities very seriously. In chapter 3 of his book, he described how to wisely use the God-given gift of time. This begins with knowing how to wisely use the time each of us has been given. There is a time and a season for everything important. God has a purpose and a plan for everyone. It is every person’s responsibility to know God to allow God to fulfill His plan and purpose through each person. God is the Master Time, Maker, and Keeper. It is so important to discover God’s timing to be in His will.
Many of us should be awarded the MST degree, which stands for Master Saver of Time. We are good at cutting corners, avoiding the rush hour, hurrying here and there, and skipping steps to save seconds, minutes, and maybe even hours. Sure, the job gets done faster. I agree to a certain extent that time is money. I won’t argue that in the USA we get more done in a day than in many other parts of the world. But are we sure of the reason why we are saving time? Is the time we are saving necessary to be saved? If it is, will the saved time be well spent at a later time?
The time that is saved now will be time spent later. Time wasted can never be regained. Time saved must have a significant purpose, or it will become time wasted. Is it possible that we may be wasting the time that we have saved?
Many of us need to slow down in at least some areas of our lives. We need to appreciate life’s scenery as a day unfolds. Desperately, we need to enjoy our loved ones. Family and friends are treasures we often do not appreciate until they are gone. And oh, how all of us need to take some of that saved time to go for a long walk and talk with our closest Friend, Jesus Christ.
SOMETHING TO DO
Evaluate how you spend your time. For one week, keep track of what you do each hour of the day. Tracking work will be easier than what you do while going to work, or when coming home. What you are trying to discover is if you use your time well, or if you waste some of your time. If you Google, “How to evaluate my use of time,” you will discover ways to efficiently do this.
This will be an eye-opener for many people.
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Lord God, You have created me and given me an unknown amount of time to live on this earth. Teach me how to wisely use all the time You have given to me. AMEN.