I Just Don’t Have the Time Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time Colossians 4:5, . Time management is a dreaded and often ignored spiritual discipline. We choose where to invest our time, carefully planning everything from work-related meetings and lunch appointments to play dates and trips to the grocery store - but fail to schedule the most important activity of all, spending time with God. Discipline carves out time to sit at His feet. Sin thrives in an out-of-control life, a life without godly discipline. Temptation happily dances across overcrowded schedules. Our minutes, hours, and days are precious commodities, gifts from God that can be unwrapped only once. We can become so busy meeting the needs of others that we destroy ourselves in the process. I cannot tell you how many people I know who have given themselves away for so long that there is nothing left to give. Marriages fail, children rebel, and homes crumble because flawed priorities dictate wrong living. I know what it is like to rush headlong through pointless days, trying to prove your worth. For many years,we have been busy doing good things … some might even say great things … but they were not the highest things for our lives. we have crashed and burned, landing in pits of clinical depression, a monument to our insecurities. From the bottom of that pit, its easy to see just how skewed our perspective of time really was. we have poured years into making our plans successful only to discover that God resources and empowers His plan alone. Its painfully obvious that we need an attitude adjustment, an eternal perspective kindled by godly discipline. we need to understand that our time does not belong to us, but is a treasure on loan to us from God. He wants us to understand that He called us to work from His love and acceptance – not to it! Every plan, priority, and goal must be held against the backdrop of eternity because it is from that backdrop that our priorities are validated, our calling confirmed, and our time best invested. Godly priorities embrace God’s plan. I am convinced that much of our frustration in life comes from doing things we were never intended to do. We create the plan as we go instead of resting in God’s plan. Discipline guides each step and establishes a basis for obedience and success in our walk with God. I am certainly no expert in the area of discipline, but I do want to share some simple ideas Prepare Just as we budget our money, we must budget our time. Every day, we are presented with twenty-four hours, and every day we must choose to either spend those hours or invest them. Prioritize If we don’t set priorities - others will. Time thieves will steal the hours and days as we allow them to impose their plans and demands on us. While it is true that different people have different priorities in different seasons of life, it is also true that one priority remains steadfast. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33, NIV). Once that priority is firmly established, the rest of life will fall into place. Eliminate Learn to leave the “lesser” things undone. This lesson is especially hard for most of us because we actually believe we can do it all. The key to godly discipline and right priorities is learning what our “all” is, and then doing all of that, Choosing to embrace and employ God’s priorities instead of ours is a battle definitely worth fighting. Godly discipline brings a holy scrutiny to priorities and perspectives. Delegate Include every family member in the work and include every family member in the play. The concept of “team” is essential to every successful family. A chore is not just a random assignment. It says, “You are an important part of this team. We need you.” Simplify Give up on perfection. It is meant for heaven ... not earth. I love the Amish saying, “The further we get from simple things, the further we get from God.” Jesus was born in sparse simplicity, a manger instead of a mansion. His teachings were simple enough for a child to understand. We often overlook profound simplicity in search of hollow complexity, foolishly thinking that bigger is always better. When it comes to investing time, we need to employ simple godly discipline. Yield Discipline does not come naturally or easily. We will surely fail, but we can always begin again. Father, we want our lives to be under Your control – not ours. Help us learn how to wisely invest our time in a way that pleases and honors You. Teach us how to set boundaries and establish priorities that will encourage our obedience to You. Empower us to live for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:29:22 +0000
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