You know the feeling. You have a thousand and one things to do and you just don’t have the time. This is when most of us start thinking about time management, when we are up to our ears in over commitments.
But strictly speaking, time is not something human beings can really “manage.” When God stopped the sun in the middle of the sky to allow Joshua to win an important battle. That was time management!
(Joshua 10:12-13). We can’t stop the sun. We can’t even slow it down. God can make it go backwards!
(See 2 Kings 20:9-11).
So let’s begin by recognizing that time belongs to God. He made it and He sustains it. All we can do is manage ourselves in the way we use the time God has so graciously given us. It is not time, it is our purposes and goals and plans and actions that we are able to manage. These four key things are not only within our power to effect, God commands us to do so. They are the proper focus of any effort to use our time well.
Be Careful How You Use Your Time
Perhaps the best-known verse in the Bible concerning the proper use of time is found in Ephesians 5:15-17
“Therefore, be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what will of the Lord is.”
It is our responsibility to be careful with regard to our use of time because it is an issue of our foolishness or wisdom. In order to make the most of our time, we must have a clear understanding of what God’s will really is. Just as “whatever is not of faith is sin,” (Romans 14:23) so anything that is other than the will of God is a waste of time.
Paul’s statement that “the days are evil” is especially important. We live in a world where everyone has an agenda. Our time, our money and our very lives are all viewed as resources to be tapped and exploited by others. If we do not begin each day with a clear understanding of what God wants us to accomplish for Him with our time, we will become the recruits or casualties of one evil scheme or another.
Our purpose must always be to please our Father in heaven. Our goals must be the goals given to us by Christ in the Great Commission. Our plans must be made in the light of His word and with the qualification “If the Lord wills, we will do this or that.” Our actions must be done with full conviction and forcefulness in the power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we will miss the mark. We will fall short of the glory of God. We will squander precious time.
The Greatest Commandment
God has not left us without direction in this challenge. In fact, the most well-known and central passages in the Bible speak directly to the issue of walking wisely in the use of our time. The Greatest Commandment is one such passage.
An expert in the Jewish law once asked Jesus which of all the commandments of God was the greatest. The Lord responded by quoting a passage from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 with one important addition. Whereas the original passage mentioned only heart, soul and strength, in Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:30 Jesus adds the word mind.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
On closer examination we find that Christ was not adding to, but rather rearranging, the content in Deuteronomy 6. Moses had gone on to say in verses 8 and 9, “Tie [Gods commandments] as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” In other words, do whatever it takes to remind yourselves of what you know to be the will of God.
If we are going to love God, as we should, from our hearts and with our souls so that our love commands our strength, we will have to continuously “remind ourselves” of what He has said. The technique God has chosen for this process is simple literacy, the God given ability we humans have to read and write.
The principle of using literacy as a reminder is key. The challenge is to write what we know to be the will of God in a place where we will be sure to see it in time to take obedient action. Whether it is a to-do list, an appointment, or an idea for later consideration, writing things down in the right place is often what separates our effective use of time from our ineffective waste of time.
Earlier I mentioned that we can’t manage time itself, but we can manage our use of time by effecting changes in our purposes, goals, plans and actions. In the Greatest Commandment God commands us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. There is a correlation.
Purpose is our response to what we believe to be true in our hearts. It is based on our assumptions about what is real and what is true. If we believe that God exists, it will affect our purpose in life. If we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God raised from the dead, it will transport us out of darkness and into the light. As Paul wrote, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). So, believing is an issue of the heart.
Goals are expressions of what we yearn for in our very souls. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) A truly great goal must always be an outgrowth of our life’s purpose, which is to know God and enjoy Him forever. Great goals stir our emotions, focus our will and tap into our deepest longings. In order to know God intimately we are invited to work with Him in whatever He is doing including suffering hardship for His sake.
True goals spring from a desire and an inspiration to create or acquire or accomplish something new. Much of what people think are goals are actually maintenance. They arise from the need to take care of what they already have, to solve problems in existing situations and to keep things going just as they are, to feed the baby, to manage the business, etc. These activities, though very important, are not really goals.
The distinction may be subtle, but it is very important in how we use our time. Life involves both goals and maintenance. Every successfully accomplished goal will normally create an on going maintenance responsibility. Starting something new is exciting. Finishing it may be very difficult. But taking care of what we have finished may be never ending. That is why we must be so careful to invest our time in doing only what is truly pleasing to God. Accomplishing the right goals leads to a life of providing the right maintenance. We reap what we sow. If you want to have less regret in middle age and old age and in eternity, set your goals carefully today.
Plans are the strategies we formulate in our minds. When we are committed to accomplishing a passionate goal, our minds can’t stop thinking about it. We study. We seek out the counsel of others. We lie awake at night, solving problems, calculating costs and figuring out how we will overcome the inevitable obstacles. Such planning is best done on paper so that we can keep track of what we are learning and then put it into practice at the proper time.
Actions are what we actually do with our strength. “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). Strong words, but true. James tells us that faith without works is dead. Purposes, goals and plans are all worthless if we are unwilling to take action. This is the purpose for carrying around a Calendar, a Schedule of Daily Appointments and an Action List. Together these tools allow us to always know what to do now or next. With them, our strength allows us to overcome the obstacles of confusion. Strength patiently, persistently and eventually conquers all kinds of opposition.
In the Greatest Commandment we have a crucial key to using our time wisely. When we love God by embracing His purpose for our lives, it requires us to set passionate goals that accomplish the various aspects of His purpose. That in turn requires us to make informed plans to fulfill each goal, and then to follow through with forceful and disciplined actions. No matter who you are, or what your circumstances, the Great Commandment is where the proper use of time begins.
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