GRACE ANCHORED JOURNEY

Time is gold.

Time is precious.

There are times when I am wondering, “What if I could have more than 24 hours a day? Will it make a difference?”

My friend and I were talking about things in life when our topic suddenly shifted to managing time wisely. Since she is already a mother, I let her share with me how she manages her time efficiently, considering that she has a demanding work, growing kids, and a working husband. As she was telling me stories on how her days most of the time, I could not help but be amazed. I felt like the Proverbs 31 woman was speaking with me. From the time she gets up until the moment that she goes to bed, everything seems so organized and well-planned. What hits me is the reality that most of her time are allotted to her family, work, and other chores that she needs to take care of. In my mind, I was wondering why am I not like that when all I think is how I can manage my time for myself?

This thought of managing my time wisely has been bothering me these days. I know I have some accomplished things daily, but I don’t feel that I am managing it wisely. I felt that there is lacking. I pondered on the question “Why does she seem to have accomplished so much in a day?”

Someone once wrote and I quote,

’’ A fool makes unwise choices with his time. With every new opportunity that comes along, the fool chases off in a different direction, not questioning whether that is the best choice. The loudest voice gains his attention. At some point the fool discovers to his dismay that he has squandered the investment of his time.”

Of course, I would not want to be a foolish, but the wise one. And I am sure that even you, you want to be prudent with your limited time. Every day we are faced with so much opportunities and preoccupations in life. How can we know that we are investing our time to what matters most?

These times that I have really been thinking of this, a familiar passage in Ephesians has reminded me on how I view my time in line with eternity. Ephesians 5:16-17 tell us to redeem time, because the days are evil.

I like how our friend Merriam Webster formed its meaning. It means to buy back, to get or win back.

We need to buy back and win back the time because our days are evil.

Like what the quote above, most of the time, it is not evil that steals our time. It is our personal desires, unfruitful passions, and giving into temptations that snatches our precious time from things that matter most.

With all the opportunities and temptations that come along our way, how can we be sure that our time would be used as how the Lord wants us to use?

When we think of our time, we are always faced with two decisions: either to maximize it or just let it go by. There are times that we don’t even notice how we let time slip away carelessly. One second that passes by can no longer be undone.

What should we watch out for to avoid wasting our time?

• Social Media (Facebook, IG, Twitter, Pinterest, etc)
• Unnecessary Time Wasters

• • over chatting or talking without a purpose (this includes gossiping and talking about non-sense ideas)
  • resting for more than what we need that can lead to idleness and laziness
  • activities that don’t merit eternal value – though this is not necessarily sin, most of the time, we indulge into them thinking that it is just okay. In the end, we have given away our previous time for our own pleasure.

• Unprayed choices and poor choices which lead us to pursue things and eventually, go back to square one when we realize that it isn’t the Lord’s will.
• The thought of “There is still a lot of time.” So, we do unimportant things and set aside important priorities at a later time. Thus, we give in to the temptation of being idle.

What Can We Do Redeem Time?

When I firs read Ephesians 5:16, the first thing that came in my mind was “how could I redeem time?”

Sometimes, we feel that our time is being managed wisely because we see the result and output every second. But when we align it to its eternal value, we end up realizing how we let it wasted.

Here are some of the recommended things on how we can redeem time:

1. Spend some precious time for the Lord daily (devotion and bible study).
2. Constantly do the right thing, so we won’t go back and forth regretting mistakes and trying to correct them.
3. Serve God the best way we can whenever the Lord placed us.
4. Get involve in church ministries.
5. Do activities that have eternal and lasting value in heaven (helping the poor, feeding the children, teaching in Sunday school, etc).

I have come to realize how I need to be wise in using my time lately. As the Lord leads me to see and experience a surrendered life for Him, I know that my time must be used for His glory. He lends me His time and I need to steward it properly.

Psalm 39:4 “Lord make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.”

James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Psalm 102:11“My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. “

Putting our perspective aright is the very first thing that we must take into consideration. If we realize that our time is just a borrowed time from God, then we would know how we ought to spend each day for His glory!