"William Gladstone was a man of extraordinary accomplishment. He was elected prime minister of Great Britain four times and was the most prominent man in politics in his day. One of the keys to his accomplishment was his view of time and priorities. He once said:
“To comprehend a man’s life, it is necessary to know not merely what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There is a limit to the work that can go out of a human body or a human brain, and he is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is still wiser who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.”
That’s a powerful quote for us as Christians to consider on living for what really matters. It’s excellent advice for those who would redeem the time.
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"Most people wouldn’t think of looking to a hymnbook for instruction in time management for our busy world today. But if they did, they might discover a deep, rich hymn of the faith called take time to be holy. It was written in the 1800’s but it gives a message which is needed far more today than it was back then. Listen to the advice the writer gives us in the second verse of this great song:
Take time to be holy,
The world rushes on.
Spend much time in secret
With Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus,
Like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct
His likeness shall see.
Taking time to be holy, is redeeming the time.
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"How often have you had a project turn out wrong and said, “Oh I knew that wouldn’t work!”? Well, if you knew it wouldn’t work, why did you do it?
Organization expert Don Aslett gives the following list of things that don’t work:
Lending to relatives
County fair gizmos
Hoping the cat or dog won’t get pregnant again
Filling the bathtub while you’re busy with something else
Hoping a leak will go away
Wet paint signs
Signs that say “Don’t pick the flowers”
Sending fragile things without padding
Cheap sprinklers
Taking the turkey out of the freezer the same day you intend to cook it
Not changing your clothes before painting
And making bargains with God.
We should know these things don’t work, be we often go ahead and do them anyway. Let’s learn from our mistakes. If you know it isn’t going to work, leave it alone and concentrate on something that will. You’ll be a lot more likely that way to redeem the time.
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"It was rumored that NASA was planning a top secret mission to study the effects of weightlessness on cows. A group of Holsteins were to be rocketed into orbit around the earth on the project which was code named: The herd shot round the world.
Fortunately, time management is not rocket science. 90% of good time management is simply a matter of proper planning and disciplined living. For the Christian, that simply means applying biblical principles to our daily schedules. While there are many specific techniques of time management which vary with an individual’s circumstances, the basics requirements of effectiveness are universal: Proper, God-directed planning, and disciplined living that allows us to carry out those plans.
You may never make a shot heard round the world, or see a herd shot round the world, but with proper planning and disciplined living you can make a worldwide impact for the Lord by consistently redeeming the time.
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