Spending Time Wisely

Time is a valuable commodity. I bet if you made note of how often you referenced time in a week you might be surprised. Most of us frequently say:

'I don't have time...' or 'if I can find the time...'

What we're really saying is: 'I am choosing to spend my time doing something else'.

That may not be what you tell yourself but the botttom line is just that; you are making a choice about where you spend your valuable commodity, time.

First, let me clarify that I am as guilty of this as anyone. On the surface, it apparently appears to a lot of people that I have an abundance of free time. Because I work out of my home, there are those that believe I do not work at all. My commute is very short. It is a total of eight steps from my bedroom door to my computer. I've considered moving my office from the hub of our home to the back room for a variety of reason. For one, it would bump up the commute to thirty two steps....I need the exercise. For another, I might not seem as available to those passing through my 'office' if they had to take the time to walk down the hall to find me. Another reason would be to get away from the hum of the washing machine I am hearing at this very moment. Multi-tasking, a perk of working at home or a curse of working at home? I could list all the reasons I'm considering the move but that would take more time.

Where and how we choose to spend our time is not always up to us. When in our places of employment, there are those that have authority over how we utilize our time for their purposes. They are paying for that authority and we should honor that. That is scriptural, not just my opinion.

Family and home needs dictate a bulk of our time. There are just some things we must do to maintain our homes and households no matter what else we have going on. Laundry is a constant, dirty dishes multiply like rabbits if you ignore them for any length of time; pets, children and spouses demand to be fed on a regular basis....the list goes on and on. These are non-negotiable time eaters.

The real danger comes when we assign such importance to our time that we ignore spending time with God, the Creator of our 24 hour day. It is far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of our lives. We determine what makes the list of our priorities. We make choices every day about how we will spend our time. None of us are so important that we cannot carve out a dedicated time to spend with the Lord every day. We think we are. We think our schedules are just so jam packed that we can not squeeze one more thing in. We rush from one activity to another; then fall into bed too late for a proper night's rest and wake up still feeling tired. All that just so we can do it all over again. No time of refreshing with the Lord. Sorry, Lord, maybe tomorrow if I can find the time.

People make time for the things they deem important. Maybe it's watching a ballgame on TV. Maybe it's shopping for yet another pair of shoes. Maybe it's sitting in a bar with friends. They WILL make time for that which is important to them. Count on it.

The next time you think you don't have time for anything else, take a moment of time and ask God to first forgive you for not spending time with Him; then ask for wisdom in how to manage your time better. He'll take the time to listen when you take the time to talk to Him.