"The ability to concentrate on a project for extended blocks of time is a common characteristic of successful people. An example of this is the greatest inventor of all time, Thomas Edison. Edison was known to work for days at a time with only minimal sleep in order to bring one of his inventions to completion. As a result, his name is on over 1,000 patents at the US patent office and he also became one of the wealthiest men of his day.
Jesus exposed the flimsiness of his disciples and their ineffectual prayer life when in the Garden of Gethsemane He asked Peter, “What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” Jesus knew the power of extended time in prayer.
What is the most important project in your life right now. Schedule a time when you can spend an extended block of time bringing it to completion. That’s the only way you’ll ever get it done. Working in extended blocks of time is a great tactic for redeeming the time.
"
"From time to time we all find ourselves in situations we wish we could escape because they are a waste our time. Perhaps its a social function or a committee meeting you volunteered to participate in but now you really wish you hadn’t. What can you do in those cases?
Sometimes it may be impossible for you to tactfully escape. And certainly if you have given your word you should keep it and do what you’ve promised. But in other cases the most God-honoring thing to do is to politely excuse yourself and move on to something else. God holds us accountable for our time and He expects us to use it well.
So, next time you get caught in an over-long meeting or trapped into the second hour of your neighbor’s home videos, just remember, learning to gracefully excuse yourself from time wasting activities is not being rude, its redeeming the time.
"
"What could be a worse use of time than doing nothing? The answer? Doing something that is really nothing.
The person who is doing nothing generally realizes they are doing nothing and they stand a decent chance to correct their situation if they stop and think about it. But the person who is doing something that amounts to nothing is deluding himself into thinking he is doing something when he is really doing nothing. This is a more dangerous predicament to be in than simply doing nothing!
Satan continually tries to fill our lives with activities of little or no value. As long as we are doing something it helps us rationalize and avoid doing the thing God really wants us to do. It’s not enough to just substitute doing something for doing nothing. The important thing is to be sure you are doing God’s best!
So, what should you be doing RIGHT NOW if you are to redeem the time?
"
"Do the thing right now that you’ll wish you had done at the end of the day.
We often reach the end of our day with a sense of frustration at the uncompleted goals we had set out to accomplish. We determined that morning what was really important, but as the day progressed, we let other things slip in and sidetrack us from the main thing we set out to achieve. We retire at night with a sense of defeat at that lingering unfinished project which continues to shadow us and rob us of any real fulfillment or achievement.
The way to break that cycle is by doing the right thing right now. Go ahead and do the thing you know you’ll wish you had done at the end of the day. Make a deliberate choice, an act of your will, that says, “I will do the thing that needs to be done and I will do it right now”
Satan’s way is to look for a more convenient time but God’s way is to redeem the time.
"