Time is valuable! Everyone is given the same amount of time…24 hours a day. Once that time is gone, you can never get it back. You can not carry over time to the next day. You use it or lose it! Time, being a valuable commodity, one would think it would be highly protected. Unfortunately, many people waste hours each day on things which serve no lasting value or accomplish no specific goal. Others, for a variety of reasons, look for ways to merely ‘kill time’. This perspective is very deceptive. It appears to be inconsequential, when in reality it is very significant.
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
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)
If God has determined that everything has an appointed time, shouldn’t you take notice? Can you imagine, the creator of the universe, has placed everything on time table? Yes, even your life. It can be easy to go through the day with a mundane attitude, as if today is nothing special. This opposes God’s design. You were intended by God to make a difference, to impact in the world, everyday (Jeremiah 29:11). Everyone has an allotted time in which to accomplish this great exploit. The only way possible to do this, in your lifetime, is to take into account how you spend your time each day.
Consider time an asset. You can use it for gain or allow it to waste away. If you are going to uncover purpose in your everyday life, you must begin to be intentional about how you spend this valuable resource! How you allocated your time each day has far reaching effects, beyond what you can sense in the moment.
Have you ever had a friend or family member invite you to spend time with them, or attend an event, and you found yourself saying “ I would love to, but… I don’t have the time”? Have you considered learning a new skill but… decided you simply don’t have the time? What is wrong with that picture? Why don’t you have the time to do the things you ‘love’ to do? What is getting your attention? Granted, there are some days in which ‘life’ just happens and things which are out of your control ‘steal’ your valuable time. This, however, is the exception. I’m speaking about your, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly schedule. That cliche, “ I don’t have the time”, is nothing more than an excuse for poor management of your resources. You may be thinking, right now as you are reading this, there is no way I can add anything else to my already overbooked schedule. This may be true, but have you considered re-working your overloaded schedule?
My desire is to help you make the most of your time. In doing so, you can uncover purpose in your everyday life, have the time for the things you ‘love’ to do, while making an impact on the world. I am not only talking about making time for the occasional ‘fun day’, but rather creating a LIFE whereby you are in control of your time. This can be accomplished. It will take dedication and effort on your part, however, you will gain a great return on your investment!
If you will do these three things, you can begin to create a Time-Map. This map will alert you to ‘time wasters’ in your day. You will commence to discover the things which are consciously, or unconsciously, stealing beneficial hours from your life.
- I challenge you, for the next week, to take into consideration how you are spending your day. Just as if you were going to make a ‘diet’ journal, whereby logging everything you eat in a day, I want to inspire you to create a ‘time log’ of your day. Go ahead…I dare you to make note of how you are spending each minute of your precious life. Begin with the hour you wake up. Log everything including the time you sleep, every fixed item (such as work), be sure to include commute time, meals, phone calls, conversations in the front yard with the neighbor, time spent on social media, shopping, exercising, chauffeuring others around, walking the dog, laundry, play time, watching TV, napping, reading, studying, etc. EVERYTHING! I want you to paint a picture of how you are using every minute of your day, don’t leave anything out.
- At the end of the week, set aside a block of time to review your time log. Begin to chart the course it lays out for you. What patterns do you see? What are some of the routines you have developed? Which things are fixed, those affairs you can not alter? What things are voluntary, those things which you do NOT HAVE to do? Be honest here. List those things without any reservations, you are simply mapping a course right now. Take your time and make a genuine, careful evaluation.
- After reviewing the path you have just laid out, determine if this course is accomplishing the greatest return on your precious investment. Do you need to make adjustments in any areas? What are those things which are stealing your expensive time? Consider what things can be eliminated, this includes the ‘good things’ that are yielding too low a return on your time investment. Have the courage to make the necessary modifications.
Your time each day, compounded over the years, compiles your life story. Do not limit the effectiveness of your life simply because you failed to invest your time wisely!
-Lucy Ann
Challenge question:
Are you courageous enough to do the above exercise?
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