Time has always fascinated me. No human can live free of its clutches. Time is constant and rapid. Our life is but a minute dot on its expanse. God, existing outside of time, gives us time, not for us to serve it, but for it to serve us. King Solomon exclaimed, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Time matters. Since we are only on Earth for a speck of the timeline, let’s manage our time wisely and make our minutes count. Here are three considerations to motivate you in managing your time:
1. Realize life is short.
We all have heard this from those who have lived life longer than we have, but we ignore it until we wake up one day and realize how much time we’ve lost. The second hand is ticking as you read this. God gives us time to steward. This line from a Psalm depicts this truth so eloquently: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). We need to realize every hour, minute, and second is precious. Because my life on Earth is finite, I put more thought now into my time with people and what I do during the day. I give time with God my first priority. Like the Psalmist continues to passionately express, our time on earth is short; be wise and realize… “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:10, 12, NIV).
The second hand is ticking as you read this. God gives us time to steward. This line from a Psalm depicts this truth so eloquently: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4).
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2. Invest your time in what you value.
In my spare time, I enjoy going to hear musicians perform live, watching a movie, or reading a book. As my passion for a decade has been to be a blogger to have a platform to encourage people in tangible ways, I often was thinking of blogging while I “enjoyed” these products of writing. The very craft I consumed was the craft I wanted to produce. I found myself frustrated, not enjoying these passions in my life. Why? I was not spending my time doing what I value. I value being an impacting writer, but I was not investing my time into this craft. Paul explains this frustration of unmatched time and values: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15). As you see, I am now using my time to do what I value; being a minister to you and writing my second book.. Therefore, I am producing tangible results from the time I am investing in that value.
3. Your vision schedules your time today.
The vision statement for your life guides the way you use your time today, and the way you use your time today determines the stories you tell tomorrow. Without vision, we will wander. King Solomon states this more eloquently: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV). I have invested time with God to pray and listen for His vision for my life to glorify Him. I have invested time with a life coach to help me write my vision statement. Now I know the vision for my life. I schedule time every week to write. This allotment of time is in red in my calendar. I’ve learned that it is not effective to schedule “writing” in my weekly calendar and ignore it. I guard that allotment of time now. I write. I’m a blogger. My vision schedules my time.
These truths have motivated the way I manage my time. What considerations have helped you manage your time? What do you want to do differently? Share with us what spurs you on to manage your time.
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