"Someone defined time as, “The thing that keeps everything from happening at once.” That’s a good definition. But, we still have to apply some time management of our own to keep everything from happening at once.
Much of the stress we experience today is the result of too many things happening at once. The baby is crying while the phone is ringing while we’re late for an appointment when the smoke detector goes off because supper just became a burnt offering.
If that sounds like your house, maybe its time to start getting up a few minutes earlier and prayerfully planning your day better. It won’t eliminate all crises. But we don’t want to do that anyway. Some stress is good for us to keep us productive. It might however keep us from some of those times of unhealthy stress that were not in God’s perfect plan for the day.
Remember, prayerful planning, early in the day, keeps everything from happening at once and redeems the time.
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"A farmer arrived at harvest time complaining to his neighbors that all of his fields were barren, empty land growing nothing but weeds. When they asked what seed he had planted he replied, “Oh, the seed is still in my barn. I had heard there might be drought or else floods this year. I got to thinking about all the insects and other pestilences that might come. I feared the risk of crop failure was too great. So I decided to play it safe.”
That foolish farmer showed the same approach as a man in a one of Jesus’ parables who was given a sum of money to invest but instead he fearfully buried it for safekeeping. In both cases, the fear of risk taking resulted in certain failure.
God has given you a resource today called time. You can play it safe and stay with your routines or you can get out of your comfort zone by sharing the Gospel with someone and redeeming the time.
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"I came across a list of funny bumper stickers recently which included:
-If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t for you.
-Old age comes at a bad time.
-I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
And my favorite, “First things first- just not necessarily in that order.” That last one captures the essence of why many people fail to redeem the time. They know what they should be doing and they have in mind to do it. The problem is they aren’t committed to doing it today.
But learning to do first things first is a skill every Christian must learn if we are to become the best possible stewards of the time God has given us. Many people claim they just don’t have time to get it all done. And that’s true because no one gets it all done. That’s why we have to make sure we’re getting the most important things done first.
Remember, when we do first things first we redeem the time.
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"George noticed his neighbor kept running out of his house several times a day to check his mail. When he asked the neighbor if he was expecting something important he replied, “No, my computer just keeps saying “You’ve got mail.”
A lot of us waste time when we don’t understand the best way to use mail or email. We often run into town to do errands, deposit checks, and sign papers that could be done just as easily by mail or email. The next time someone asks for your signature, ask them if they can mail it to you. Most of the time, they can mail it if they want to it’s just easier for them not to.
The problem is, there is no such thing as a “quick trip to town.” Every trip involves breaking your concentration and risking unexpected delays.
There’s a lot of work to be done in the short time before Jesus returns. Let’s use the mail to redeem that time.
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