Whether you are a carpenter, company president, keeper at home, or a salesperson on the road, you need at least three characteristics to find success and fulfillment in your daily work-life and Christian pilgrimage. You need the aptitude, the correct attitude, and the appropriate level and kind of activity for the job or service you are performing. These factors, including others you might add, can be a worthy subject in themselves; however, the subject of appropriate activity or Time Management and related areas are considered in this article.
God has given us adequate time to do ALL He wants done–the activity that allows us to enjoy the abundant life in Christ–“blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). All too often this “blessed life” is not the result, because we mismanage the time and opportunities given us by the Lord.
What are the outcomes we desire? Most people who are in a slump in their daily lives (no desire or energy to get up and go) are busy with low priority activities while the important things in life are left undone. The business seminar would tell us: “plan your work and work your plan.” But long before, 1 Corinthians 14:40 states, “Let all things be done decently and in order” or “according to the order.”
God, through the Bible, gives us an order for our lives (individually and as a local church). It is appropriate for us to have goals, plans, and good intentions. It is proper for us to sit down and make plans for the future (in His will), counting the cost (see Lk. 14:28-30). We then need to finish the task we believe God has put into our hand. When Scripture says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow,” (Mt. 6:34) that does not mean “do not plan,” but “do not worry.”
Time management is not the solution for the lazy person to do less or for the work addict who wants to do more. It is for the Christian who wants to make sure he is not distracted by the urgent tasks to the exclusion of the important.
It is important to have the proper foundation in our lives: we need to build with good materials. God notices our every word (Mt. 12:36)! Every second of my life is either “wood, hay, or stubble” or “gold, silver and precious stone” (1 Cor. 3:11-12). We’ll have to account for time and talents given to us (see Lk. 12:48; Mt. 25:14-30). Paul finished the work God gave him to do (finished his course). Will we be able to say that? (Eph. 5:15-17).
How do we use our time? How do we accomplish the things God wants for our lives? (Rom. 8:29; Jer. 29:11; Eph. 5:17; Col. 3:9-10; Phil. 4:13).
If you were given $1440 at midnight and told you could keep only that which you invested during the next 24 hours, I am confident you would try to invest all of it wisely. Very little would be left over! Yet lost money can be recovered, but lost time is gone forever. We are given 1440 minutes each day to invest. How wisely is it invested? Time is so much more precious! With time you can make money, but you cannot buy even one minute with all the money in the world.
We can take courses on “How to Manage” a number of things: business, investments, money, and even time. It should be noted that, although these courses have much value, they focus on worldly objectives. The results obtained for the Christian will be lacking because God is not central. How then does the Christian manage time in view of time and eternity? Let’s look at the answer first (doing God’s will at all times) and then explore how we arrive at the answer (result).
To be doing God’s will at all times is the result that comes from proper time management. Easy enough to say, but how do we accomplish this result? Management of anything requires setting goals, standards, and objectives. If we are to formulate the objectives and goals that will accomplish God’s will in our lives, we need to know what God’s standards are. What does He think is important for our lives? If our actions are in accordance with God’s priorities for us, then we will enjoy the results of proper time management.
Sometimes we feel like a loser in our Christian life when we want to be a winner. How do we gauge winning and losing? Paul in prison, in chains was a “winner” whereas, Pilate on the throne, with temporal power and earthly riches, was a “loser.” What makes the difference between being a winner and a loser, between the abundant Christian life and day-to-day survival?
The answer to that question is found in determining who or what controls my life. The person or activity that has the prior claim in any given situation is at the controls in my life. Every area of my life is subjected to a “priority grid” whether we admit it or not. For the unsaved individual this is determined by worldly standards. For the Christian, the Bible has the answer for all the areas of my life: spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social.
All decisions must, one-by-one, be systematically funneled through one basic criteria: “Proving what is acceptable to the Lord” (Eph. 5:10), or put another way: “What decision or action would be most pleasing to God?” As Paul stated, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
As Scripture’s principles mesh with God’s goals for us–using the time He has given us–only then will we enjoy effective, productive, biblical time management. This will have abundant rewards in time and eternity.
It will come as no surprise that God is to be first. That, however, does not mean He wants our family sitting at an empty supper table while we pass out tracts. Putting God first involves looking after those things and people for which He has given us responsibility. “For to me to live is Christ,” (Phil. 1:21) means Christ in my personal life, my family life, my church life, and my business life. I hasten to note that spending every free moment playing games with your children rather than allotting time for the service of the Lord, is not a good testimony to the children nor is it God’s will for His people. God gives us sufficient time to give attention to all our responsibilities.
Once we understand God’s prior claim, and set about to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21), then we must consider what His goals are for each area of our lives. To name a few: favor with God/spiritual; favor with man/social; wisdom/intellectual; stature/physical. Our goals then become to understand God’s will for our lives specifically.
In the context of an article like this, we think of goals like reading the Bible, praying, witnessing, and so on–all worthy goals–but making money, paying our bills, and grooming our property are goals that can fit within God’s desires for us as well. Everything that we do that falls within the area of His “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will” (Rom. 12:2) is important to God. We confuse our thinking when we separate our activities into “spiritual” and “secular.” We do not need these divisions.
Let me use an example: take reading our Bibles and making money. Bible reading is an essential activity, an important resource in accomplishing God’s will for our lives. How quickly we read through the Bible does not matter so much as making it a consistent part of our daily experience. But if you have spent a good part of the night holding your sick child and as a result do not read x number of chapters the following day, you have not failed to accomplish God’s will for your life at that moment. If, on the other hand, you take the hour you could have spent considering God’s Word in order to earn extra money for some self-indulgence, then you must seriously question whether you are in God’s will!
Making money is a necessary activity in order to provide the physical necessities of living. To leave household bills unpaid is a poor testimony, even if you are using the time to preach on street corners. If God’s will for you is to preach on street corners, then you should keep your finances in order so you can take the time off.
Our lives need focus, purpose, and vision. Our time needs to be managed. This will lessen the occasions when urgent tasks replace the important ones. Easy tasks should not take the place of necessary ones. Don’t make another schedule; fix the one you are currently using. Ask the Lord, “Is my current activity in accordance with Your will?” keeping in mind God’s goals, and the evaluation that the Word of God places on the various areas of your life. Your goals soon will be conformed to His will and your time will be effectively managed.
The hymn writers remind us, “Life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf.” And too, we must “Take time to be holy, speak oft with the Lord.” Sometimes we try too hard (in our own strength), rather than waiting on the Lord (Isa. 40:31; see also Mt. 6:33).
Time relates to the past, the present, and the future. Soon, however, we will leave this time-bound world for the shoreless realm of eternity. When we truly “don’t have time,” we will then have forever! What are we investing–during these fleeting moments of time–for eternity? (2 Tim. 4:7; Phil. 4:14).