Time

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

The most precious resource that you have is your time. Time to hold your lovers’ hand. Time to bounce a child on your knee and make him giggle. Time to earn money to feed your family. Time to find pleasure in a beautiful sunrise or sunset.

How sad that time is so often wasted. Time wasted in line at the checkout. Time wasted while sitting in a waiting room. Time wasted in slow moving traffic. Life’s problems constantly pluck the minutes away from us. But we are guilty of wasting much time on our own. Mindlessly flipping channels looking for something to watch. Being a part of meetings that get nothing accomplished. Putting things off until they become major, time consuming problems. How many hours have you wasted just in past seven days?

It’s all a matter of priorities. Do you let trivial stuff eat up time that would be better spent on something else? Do the demands of work steal too much time from your family? Does being disorganized make you spend too much time running from one thing to the next instead of getting things done?

To use time well, set your priorities. What are the most important things in your day? Time with God should come in first—after all, He is the one who gave you this day. He is the one who will forgive you for making mistakes. He is the one who lends you His wisdom in making tough decisions. He is the one who gives you strength and patience to endure hardship. Every day should include some time for prayer and reading from His Book.

Your next highest priority has to be your family. Without the investment of time, relationships wither and die. It is better to have a home filled with love and only a few dollars in your wallet, than to be comfortably well off and alone with your success.

Once you have established your priorities, plan each day around them. The important things should never be shoehorned into your schedule. Time is precious; don’t let it be used up on things that have no lasting value. Your God and your family—nothing is more important. They are an investment of time that you will not regret making.