Time is from the Lord - Use it for the Lord

When our Father blesses us with a gift, we need to honor Him by using that gift for His glory. When we do this, we receive an even greater blessing. Think about the special gifts you've been given. Perhaps some have been exercised and others left untapped. Those you've put to use have blossomed and grown benefiting you and others as well. Those you have done little with may have ebbed away.

One of God's greatest gifts is time, and He's given a portion to each of us. But we all to often thoughtlessly squander this precious gift all the while lamenting that we can't find time for prayer, Bible study, family fellowship, service to others, etc. Are we not instructed by God's Word to spend time in prayer, studying the scriptures, witnessing, etc.? These aren't idle suggestions, they're commandments from our Master who knows we need to be doing these things to keep spiritually fit and walk close by His side. We need to take these directives seriously! It's often a matter of resetting priorities.

TIME MANAGEMENT
Submitted by Margo Bentzler

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As this stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him.

Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes."

Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks.

Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted.

Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"

"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

Remember who is The Rock of Salvation - Christ Jesus. He is your Rock and needs to be the first one in the jar. But don't confuse this with the multitude of demands that may be placed upon you in His name which may keep you so busy with church or project "busy" work that He is left out and your family as well.

Another stumbling block to effectively using time is procrastination. Tomorrow we'll start having quiet times with our Savior. Next week we'll start reading to our children. Next month we'll visit the lonely shut-in down the block...

The Present
Submitted by Margo Bentzler

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever parts of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, what ever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".

You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so As to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train .

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.

Now is the perfect time to commit yourself to using God's gift of time wisely. Ask for His help and you will receive it. That's a promise! His promise. Here are some hints:

• Use a daily planner. Discipline yourself to do it even though it isn't "you," and be amazed at the order it brings.
• Make "appointments" for time with your Lord, your family and yourself, and KEEP THEM. If something or someone seeks to intrude, simply and truthfully say, "I'm sorry, I have an important appointment at that time."
• Read Crystal Owings' article on Simplifying Your Life and put it into practice.

Finally, refuse to become a victim of false urgency and emergency.

Repeat to Yourself, "Life Isn't an Emergency"
Submitted by Patti Crist

A client who is a homemaker and mother of three children recently said to me, "I just can't get the house cleaned up the way I like it before everyone leaves in the morning." She was so upset over her inability to be perfect that her doctor had prescribed her anti-anxiety medicine. She was acting (and feeling) like there was a gun pointed at her head and the sniper was demanding that every dish be put away and every towel folded--or else! Again, the silent assumption was, this is an emergency. The truth was, no one other than she had created the pressure she was experiencing.

I've never met anyone (myself included) who hasn't turned little things into great big emergencies. We take our own goals so seriously that we forget to have fun along the way, and we forget to cut ourselves some slack. We take simple preferences and turn them into conditions for our own happiness. Or, we beat ourselves up if we can't meet our self-created deadlines. The first step in becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you're creating your own emergencies. Life will usually go on if things don't go according to plan. It's helpful to keep reminding yourself and repeating the sentence, "Life isn't an emergency."
Excerpted from "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"

Author: Iona Hoeppner
Copyright © 1999 ionanet. All rights reserved.
Revised: April 20, 2006.