Time to reshape our schedulesI've found that fall is the best time of the year for most people to rework their schedules. The returning from vacation and the starting up of the school year provides an excellent Of course, there are two ways to create a new schedule: allow the chance occurrence of events to mold it, or establish time commitments according to priorities. The latter is the far more satisfying approach. Jesus apparently lived each day with a constant awareness that He was under time constraints that made it essential for each minute to count. That doesn't mean He didn't have time to socialize, to rest, or to be interrupted. It does mean that He kept His mission in mind and made each thing that happened oriented toward that mission. If He socialized, He used the occasion to teach or to set an example. His rest gave Him new strength for the morrow. Interruptions were special opportunities for Him to show His compassion and interest in the needs of others. As you reorder your 168 hours over the next couple of weeks, set aside some specific time for communing with the Lord - prayer, reading and meditating on the Word, and talking with brothers and sisters about spiritual things. Make it a firm commitment that lesser priorities cannot annul. The Lord will bless you for it. Pledge to yourself and to God that you will never use "I don't have time" as an excuse to avoid meeting with the saints, or testifying about Jesus, or meeting someone's physical needs. We do have the time. What we sometimes don't have is the desire. God took the time and the effort to save us. Remembering that is the key to having the desire to do what needs to be done. We love because He first loved us. |
| —Steve Singleton DeeperStudy.com |
Want to go deeper?The Bible has a lot to say about time. If you did a New Testament word study of the subject, you would need to look up "hour" (hōra), "watch" (of the night - phulakē), "day" (hēmera), "week" (sabbaton), "month" (mēn), "year" (etos), and "age" or "eon" ("aiōn"), even before you take a look at the two words for "time" (chronos and kairos). This last word, kairos, often means "opportunity," as in Eph. 5:16: "making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." In Colossians, the sister epistle of Ephesians, Paul repeats the appeal: "Make the most of every opportunity" (4:5). In both verses, Paul couples with kairos a verb of the marketplace, exagorazō, "to buy out," referring to purchasing from a supplier all of a product that is available. The metaphor means that you snatch up the time you have and use it to full advantage. Picture yourself strolling through a flea market. You spot a table loaded with jewels, and your trained eye can see they're genuine. The price is phenomenally low. What do you do? If you're smart, you spend all you have buying out the vendor. That's what God wants us to do with our time. Each moment is a precious opportunity. We must not waste it.
Leland Ryken. Redeeming the Time: A Christian Approach to Work & Leisure (1995) Analyzes and applies the biblical principles that relate to work and leisure, reframing labor and leisure around God's purposes for a holistic lifestyle. Addresses key issues concerning toil and play. Defines the nature of work and leisure, explains the problems they present, and offers solutions. Insights drawn from social science, literature, history, theology, and biblical studies. The result is one of the most informed and practical studies on our day-to-day activities. Recommended for online reading: Henry Blunt. Redeem the Time, sermon 14 (301-317) in his Posthumous Sermons, ed. J. Browne (2nd ed., 1844). |
opportunity to start afresh with the full 168 hours and see what changes for the better you can make.
