Is Our Time Well Spent?

How would you like to spend 2 years making phone calls to people who aren't home? Sound absurd? According to one time management study, that's how much time the average person spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in. Not only that, we spend 6 months waiting for the traffic light to turn green, and another 8 months reading junk mail.

These unusual statistics should cause us to do time-use evaluation. Once we recognize that simple "life maintenance" can chip away at our time in such huge blocks, we will see how vital it is that we don't busy ourselves "in vain" (Psalm 39:6).

Psalm 39 gives us some perspective. In David's complaint to God, he said, "You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You" (Psalm 39:5). He meant that to an eternal God our time on earth is brief. And He doesn't want us to waste it. When we do, we throw away one of the most precious commodities He gives us.

Each minute is an irretrievable gift--and unredeemable slice of eternity. Sure, we have to make the phone calls, and we must wait at the light. But what about the rest of our time? Are we using it to advance the cause of Christ and to enhance our relationship with Him? Is our time well spent?

The walk of the Christian is to be with "wisdom" as we go through life (Ep 5:15-17). Since our time is fleeting, and the days are evil, we must make the best use of our time. There are far too many people today who are wasting both their time and their lives by failing to exercise wisdom in their daily lives.

The Word of God claims to equip man unto every good work (2 Ti 3:16-17). Therefore, it is only natural to assume that it provides us with sound advice concerning daily living. How rare it is for us to stop and appreciate the brevity of our lives! We assume that things will continue the way we they are day in and day out. We simply assume that tomorrow will be like today and today will be like yesterday without thought about the brevity of life and that our time is truly a vapor.

We need to understand that how fleeting our lives are. We need to understand the measure of our days to be short. We need to appreciate the day and not assume tomorrow is available to us. We leave so much unsaid and undone. How often we see people who have lost loved ones wishing they had another few hours to say or do some final things. They never imagined they would not have time to offer those final important words. They assumed tomorrow would come.

We must seize each day that is given to us. Paul said as much to us in Ephesians 5:16, telling us to “redeem the time, because the days are evil” (NKJV). Other translations help us understand this phrase “redeem the time” by saying, “making the most of every opportunity” (NIV) and “making the best use of the time” (ESV). The pursuit of the things in the world is vanity. We need to pursue the things that are most important: God and our relationships with family and believers.

Related Scripture: Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:6; John 3:36; Romans 6:23; Colossians 1:16; John 14:6; John 10:11; Galatians 2:20; Psalm 21:4; Proverbs 10:27.

Let's pray:

My heavenly Father, I pray that my life on this earth will not pass in vain without using it to to glorify your name and exemplify your teachings. Help me to efficiently use each day that you have so graciously blessed me with to help those in need; those who are suffering; and those who are lost so that they too will know You and be comforted by Faith that they are saved through You and by You. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

May God bless you,

Val