This post is dedicated to all those friends of mine who crib about the lack of time. Who find it difficult to take out time everyday to read the word or for prayer or for fellowship!! One of the most lame excuses that people often give to escape from the responsibility to grow in the Lord and to be his witness is that they don’t have enough time. I remember the parable of distribution of the talents, one person got 5 of them, the other one got 2 and one got only 1. Despite of how unequally the time was distributed to each of them, they were all equally called to account for the use or misuse of the same!

Stewards of Time:

God lives outside of time and is not at all bothered by the passing time. For God, one day is as precious as a thousand years and a thousand years go off as quick as one day!! (2 Peter 3:8) However time is like one of those talents God has entrusted us with to make the best use of. It might not be equally distributed, but we are all equally accountable. Our faithfulness in this area of time will be one of the factors by which we will be judged when we stand before our Master in heaven. Please do not underestimate the damage that the loss or misuse or abuse of time brings upon us and also upon the people around us. So many precious lives would have not been snatched by hell had a young man or woman in the church, learnt to handle his/her time in a godly fashion.

Time Killers:

Each of us face different challenges when it comes to handling time. These are a few of those things that used to kill my time and I hope sharing them could be helpful to you as well.

1. Relationships: This is one of the most difficult factors to overcome when it comes to managing time. In fact a lifestyle based on the principles of the word of God demands us to give adequate time in developing our relationship with the people God has placed around us. However, the trap is when these relationships starts to kill your time from doing anything else. That is why, it is generally recommendable for a person who is involved or going to be involved in ministry to get married to someone who has a similar calling. Else, you will be wasting a lot of time on the less important things in your life in order to be successful in the relationship, thus compromising with your vision. If you have learnt and know how to handle relationships in a godly manner, you have practiced more than 50% of the bible. Time is precious, invest it into people who will bear eternal fruits.
2. Technology: This includes internet browsing, networking sites, gaming, television, radio and all forms of media that technology has allowed us to use today. All of these things have allowed us to reach out to countless number of people, however when it stops us from being good stewards of our time, it is destroying one of the most precious resource that God has given us. Technology is great as long we use it to save time, not when it starts using up our time!!
3. Unwise Decisions: This happens when you get carried away by your feelings or by what people say and give a commitment to do or take up something good, all probably for the right reasons and to glorify God. But remember, no matter how noble a job it is to build someone a house or keep a watch for a city, Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers are just wasting their time! Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman is sitting up sleepless for nothing. Hence it is always wise to consult God and make sure your decisions and commitments are based on what he is leading you to do. Spirit led decisions are never a waste of our resources, instead they multiply our resources, like the bread and fish that fed thousands!!

The days are evil:

Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15,16) The days are evil? What does that imply? When do we say that the the day is good? Probably when things turn out in our favor and everything goes good! Similarly when Paul says, the days are evil, he is meaning these are the days when things will essentially start going wrong, especially for the church. That was true right from the first century church. They lived in evil days too. No one knows when the seasons will change and the curtains will fall on the history of humanity. I pray that the very thought of it will burden you with a great responsibility to wisely steward your time. That the King will say of you on the last day, “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant, come and enter my rest”