Time To Plan
“So
teach us to number our
days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:11
Few of us would argue that the older you get, the faster
time seems to go. When we were kids, to paraphrase the Scripture, “a
day was as a year,” while when we grow older, “a year is as a day.” This requires an awareness of the time we
have been given and its greatest use. We want to glean the most from 2014.
In Seizing The Torch, Ted Engstrom gives a fitting reminder
of that truth:
“Time is a perpetual
contradiction. It is free to all but
many people would pay richly to gain it back. We can quantify it through
calendars, watches, and the tides, but we cannot contain it. Time lingers painfully for the patient and
races through the hands of the doctor. Time stands still in the universe as we glide
by on a spinning planet.
Fifty-two weeks per
year, 168 hours per week, 1,440 minutes per day, we all have the same amount of
time. Presidents and paperboys alike
have all the time there is. The only difference
is how they use it. “Doest thou love
life? Then don’t squander time. For that’s the stuff life’s made of,” observed Scottish
poet and novelist, Sir Walter Scott.
Christ gave the matter
more urgency when He said, ‘I must work the
works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can
work.’ (John 9:4). Look at everything He accomplished in only
three and a half years. What Christ did
in less than 1,300 days still affects what you and I do after more than 1,900
years.
Three important links in the planning that we need to remember are:
1) Planning is a process:
Like meal preparation or housecleaning, you cannot do it once and walk
away. We need to re-evaluate our planning frequently.
2) Planning takes time:
Sixty seconds of thought before dashing out the door can save hours of
time in returning for something you forgot.
3) Plan to succeed: Many people are planning to fail because they
are failing to plan.
Planning will appreciably increase your abilities as a good
steward of your time, talents and treasures.
“Be very careful, then, how you
live,” Paul wrote in Ephesians
5:15,16 “not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” Sounds like sound advice as we continue
through the year.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1)
What did Jesus place as the highest
priority? What would you place as the
highest priority to accomplish this week?
2)
How does our spiritual growth factor into
those priorities?
Consider reading the word of God today:
Copyright 2014 - Terry Risser
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