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Geoffrey Chaucer said,
Time and tide wait for no man. Napoleon said, you can
ask me for anything you like, except time. Benjamin
Franklin said, Dost thou love life, then do not squander
time, for that’s the stuff life is made of. Thomas
Fuller said, He lives long that lives well; and time
misspent is not lived but lost.
If this is how great men from history valued time how
much are we to value and manage our time. We seldom
respect our time and other’s time. We live in a “busy”
world. We would like to be the last one to arrive and
the first one to leave. Do we understand the value of
time?
I have seen in my life believers walking into church or
prayer meetings almost half way through the meeting. But
they make sure that they would be on time to office or
to an appointment with the Doctor. Our priorities have
changed. ‘Everything is OK’ attitude have crept into
Christendom also. We say God is number one in our lives.
But we hardly take time to talk to him on a daily basis.
Someone said, “Our priorities are reflected in a way we
spend our resources like time, money, energy and
talents.”
The problem with us is that we don’t plan our time. If
we have to go to church at 8 AM on Sunday morning, we
need to make sure that we sleep on time on Saturday
night. So that we can at least get up by 6:00 AM and
leave home early enough to reach the church on time. But
most of the times, we simply don’t plan. We would end up
watching TV or chat away until midnight. It’s because,
we think its OK to reach the church late. Complacency
has crept into our lives.
Another reason that we are poor managers of time is
because we procrastinate things. Just like the lottery
ticket announcements in India we always wait for
tomorrow to come. We think we will do things later. We
just need to determine what our priorities are. We also
need to learn to say ‘NO’ to things that are not
important.
Your future comes one day at a time-it is God’s present
to you. How you use it is your gift to Him. Time
Management is the art of making every moment of every
day count.
You should not just spend time but invest in time by
ensuring that every action, every thought you think and
word you speak, is in alignment with the word of
God. Because, when you manage your time well you are in
fact managing your life well. TIME MANAGEMENT IS “LIFE
MANAGEMENT.”
§ Biggest Time Wasters are Interruptions, Hopelessness,
and Poor delegation skills. Procrastination – “I will do
it later”, absentmindedness, Misplacing, Jumping from
one task to another without completing the first,
inability to say ‘NO’ or extra politeness, Poor
communication or Listening.
A Few Time Management Techniques:
- Ask yourself - Is
this what I want or need to be doing right now?
- Do a “to do” list
for your day. Do it at the end of the previous day.
Mark items as “A” and “B” in priority.
- Learn the
difference between “Do I need to do this now?” and
“Do I need to do this at all?”
- Delegate
- Have a place for
everything and put everything in its place - you’ll
know where to find it when you need it.
You have been given the
opportunity to create a masterpiece of your life.
Ephesians 5:15-17 (amp) gives us a foundational key
regarding this very principle:
Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and
worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless,
but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the
very most of the time [buying up each opportunity],
because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and
thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly
grasping what the will of the Lord is.
On a daily basis, God gives us opportunities to advance
His Kingdom. The key to making the most of every
opportunity is to grasp firmly the will of the Lord.
This is why it is vitally important to renew your mind
continually with the Word of God. You must daily align
your thoughts and words with God’s. Jesus gave us a
fundamental key to successfully commanding our every
situation when He told us in John 15:7, “If you abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you
desire, and it shall be done for you.” This is why God
instructs us to meditate on “the Word of God, which is
effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its
superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and
rely on it]” (1 Thess. 2:13, amp). God’s Word is life
and health to those who find it. (See Proverbs 4:20-22.)
In Psalm 90:12, Moses made this request: “Teach us to
number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
“Ordering your day requires the ability to prioritize.
It requires the ability to discern what is distracting
busywork and what is Kingdom business. Effective time
management requires getting God’s heart on what is worth
“investing” time in versus what we should not be
“spending” or even “wasting” time on. As with any
financial investment, you must ask what kind of return
your time investments are yielding. Time “spent” is a
cost-and you must be mindful of the benefit you are
exchanging for the cost you are incurring.
God provided the ultimate example of effective time
management and order in the Book of Genesis. In six days
He created the earth and everything in it, and on the
seventh day He rested. It all went according to plan.
There was an order to when, and how He created what and
when-a succession and progression to how He developed
each organism and species. God did not waste His
resources, especially His time. He was purposeful and
concise as He unfolded life on our planet.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR DAY!
Do not miss out on the rewards of well-managed time.
Order is what gives you the freedom to be creative.
Order gives you the peace of mind you need to tune into
God’s supernatural frequencies and tap into divine
inspiration. Without order you will be distracted with
the cares and concerns of this life so that you cannot
still your mind to hear God’s voice. It is impossible to
imagine and envision when you are overextended and
stressed. You need to schedule time to purposefully
paint the canvas of your life by investing in creative
dreaming. Stop to think. Order your day so that you have
the time and peace you need to create the masterpiece
God has preordained for you. Make certain that you have
scheduled time for praying, meditation, reading the Word
of God, praise and worship. I pray that you will bring
order to your day and to your life.
I pray for order to your life, ministry, finances,
health and all things concerning you. Let’s prioritize
our lives. Let’s be good managers of our time.
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