“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’s act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.” (Ephesians 5:15-17 NLT)
In retirement one of the fiercest battles I fight every day is how to invest my time. Being in my 70’s shouts to me every morning when I climb out of bed, that my time is running out. I feel it in my body and recognize it in the ways my mind works or fails to work. When we’re young we “spend” our time, often on frivolities, believing we have a lot of it left.
Of course, that’s a lie, because human beings die at birth and can live to be more than a hundred years. The kicker is, we don’t know when our appointed time will be. When I was in seminary, I was married, working full time, and going to school full time. To say I was juggling my time was a gross understatement.
Money was tight, so I had to do as many things as I could myself, so when the car broke down, I enlisted a friend I’d met at work to help me. We pulled the transmission out of my old Rambler, repaired it as best we knew how, then reinstalled it. But in the process, we started giggling about something, then broke out in howling laughter, all the while trying to balance that transmission on our chests.
Those few brief moments together under that car proved to be the last time I would spend with my friend Doug. A few weeks later he was killed in Viet Nam., leaving his wife and baby behind. Pastor Corky Calhoun wrote: “When it comes to our time, there are always winners and losers. Sadly, way too often the losers are our family and God.” Could those moments Doug spent with me have been better spent with his wife and baby?
The reality is, when we spend time with someone, there are, by default, many with whom we’re not spending time. When we give someone our time, we’re literally giving them a very vital and non-retrievable part of our lives. Prioritize how you’ll invest your time and with whom. One of the most rude and insulting things we can do to another person is to waste their time or allow them to waste ours. Choose wisely those with whom you’ll invest your time.
As a believer in Jesus, we’re bound to be led by His Spirit in every area and dimension of our lives, including, of course, but not limited to, in the use of our time. Christine Caine wrote: “When we love God and receive His love, we won’t be able to help but love those around us.” In prioritizing my time I desire God to be first, my wife and family second, those I’m seeking to influence for Christ third, those in my spiritual family fourth, and everyone else after that.
Something I heard when I was first in ministry, that has stuck with me, is this: “I have all the time I need to accomplish the complete will of God for my life, if I do it efficiently.” Who will the winners and losers be in your life as you endeavor to do God’s will efficiently and effectively? Who will benefit from the person the Lord has enabled you to become as a child of God? Are there friends, neighbors, co-workers, loved ones, children, grandchildren, your spouse, someone God has laid on your heart in whom you need to invest time?
Invest wisely! You never know when you speak with someone if it will be for the last time.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 