A Timely Perspective

Happy New Year!

1/1/11

This seemed like such a good day to talk about perspective and time since almost every person on the planet has their attention drawn to that concept. Other milestones like birthdays and anniversaries are unique to each individual, but the turning of the calendar to a new year is common to us all.

Time is passing quickly! So, how are you spending it? You only have so much of it, you know, and the amount you have was determined by God before you were ever born. When viewed from that perspective, I've come to believe time to be more valuable than money. That sobers me as I think about how much of it I waste. And once it is gone, it is gone forever. There are no do-overs.

But there is hope! The fact that you are reading this means that you still have some of that precious commodity to spend. And today is a day when many of us will make decisions about how to use ours. I'd like to make it my resolution to do my best not to waste this precious gift of time.

In order to not waste time, though, I need to decide what things constitute wasting time and what things do not. I've come up with a very simplified definition:

Doing anything besides what God wants me to do at that moment is a waste of time.

This sounds simple enough in theory, but in practice? . . . Well, that's another story!


Here are a few things that I know are a waste of time based upon Biblical precepts:

• Worrying about the past. (Time has no "rewind" button. Repent and move on.)
• Worrying about the future. (Time has no "fast forward" button. Leave the unknowable to God.)
• Waiting for better circumstances before I do what I'm supposed to be doing.(Time has no "pause" button either. No matter what the conditions of life might be, God still expects His children to be doing His work.)

Here are a few things that I've learned through experience - hopefully Biblical experience - that are not a waste of time in the proper proportions, although like anything good that God gives us they can be distorted, misused, or misapplied. Scriptures and God's design of the human body teach us that at least 1/7 of every week and 1/3 of every day should be spent on the following:

• Rest. (Sleep. The body needs to be recharged physically.)
• Relaxation (Life is stressful and the emotional burdens need to be laid aside. The body needs to be recharged mentally.)
• Reading (Specifically, reading God's Word and coupling it with prayer. The body needs to be recharged spiritually.)

We've got all - or as much of 2011 that God chooses to give us - still ahead of us. Let's determine not to waste so precious a commodity.

(My blogging friend, Karin, of the appropriately named Yesterday, Today, and Forever has written a poem about Sands of Time that touched my heart.  You can read it here.)

Happy 2011, my family and friends!