"Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days" (Eph. 5:16, NLT).
Paul admonishes believers to "redeem the time because the days are evil" (cf. Eph. 5:16)! We must get our plans in line with God's timing and will, for He makes everything beautiful in His time (cf. Eccl. 3:11). We are only granted only so much of this precious element, which is merely a corollary of space and matter, and no one has more of it than any other until our time is up and we are called home. We all have 168 hours in a week and the opportunity to get eight hours of sleep, if we are good at managing the time allotted us.
Time management is a managerial skill and it gets better with age and experience. Jesus had a perfect timetable (never in a hurry nor late), and was always in God's timeline, will, and plan. Note that Jesus never felt nor complained of being interrupted, for He recognized the providence of God in bringing about the glory of God and meaning to time. We ought to respect each other's personal time, unless they are working for us, then we have the rights to make demands.
Since we are responsible only for the time given us (some have more downtime or free time than others, for instance), there are only a few things we can do with our time: invest it; spend it; waste it and save it. For example, prayer is never a waste of time, no matter how busy you are, and it's really an investment--the busier you are, the more you should pray! We ought to save as much time as possible only in order to invest it in the Lord's work. Wasting time is a sin and this is inevitable sometimes, but we must learn from experience. How we spend time is a resume of our character and we should occupy and do things that are profitable and worthy of our time management.
Caveat: Man is not made for idleness, but to be productive and busy in order to be fulfilled and have a purpose! In sum, it's vital to make do with what time we are blessed with, because we are all virtually on borrowed time from God and will be held accountable, even for our R & R and what we do with our downtime, whether or not we can make it productive and meaningful. Soli Deo Gloria!
Paul admonishes believers to "redeem the time because the days are evil" (cf. Eph. 5:16)! We must get our plans in line with God's timing and will, for He makes everything beautiful in His time (cf. Eccl. 3:11). We are only granted only so much of this precious element, which is merely a corollary of space and matter, and no one has more of it than any other until our time is up and we are called home. We all have 168 hours in a week and the opportunity to get eight hours of sleep, if we are good at managing the time allotted us.
Time management is a managerial skill and it gets better with age and experience. Jesus had a perfect timetable (never in a hurry nor late), and was always in God's timeline, will, and plan. Note that Jesus never felt nor complained of being interrupted, for He recognized the providence of God in bringing about the glory of God and meaning to time. We ought to respect each other's personal time, unless they are working for us, then we have the rights to make demands.
Since we are responsible only for the time given us (some have more downtime or free time than others, for instance), there are only a few things we can do with our time: invest it; spend it; waste it and save it. For example, prayer is never a waste of time, no matter how busy you are, and it's really an investment--the busier you are, the more you should pray! We ought to save as much time as possible only in order to invest it in the Lord's work. Wasting time is a sin and this is inevitable sometimes, but we must learn from experience. How we spend time is a resume of our character and we should occupy and do things that are profitable and worthy of our time management.
Caveat: Man is not made for idleness, but to be productive and busy in order to be fulfilled and have a purpose! In sum, it's vital to make do with what time we are blessed with, because we are all virtually on borrowed time from God and will be held accountable, even for our R & R and what we do with our downtime, whether or not we can make it productive and meaningful. Soli Deo Gloria!