"You probably remember time lines from your school days, like the ones that showed Columbus’s voyage, the Declaration of Independence, World War II and the first man on the moon. Those time lines were helpful tools because they put things in perspective and helped us see when events took place in relation to each other.
But time lines can also help us picture future events and make proper plans for them. For example, if you have a son or daughter between the ages of 12 and 18 you might want to make them a time line to help visualize the rest of their grade school education. You might include projected dates for college application, graduation, and work and savings goals. You’ll find a time line can help both of you plan for the future.
Time lines cover only a segment of time. At the end of every individual’s time line comes the same thing. Death- followed by judgment. On that day, we’ll be glad we planned ahead and redeemed the time.
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"Ben Franklin said, “Time is money.” But exactly how much money is your time worth. It may be helpful to think of each hour or even each minute of your time as having a dollar value. Here’s some examples of how it breaks down. Let’s assume you work a normal 8 hour day 244 days a year.
If your annual salary is $30,000, every hour costs your company $15.36. Every minute is worth 25.6 cents. That means a four minute break costs over a dollar.
If you are in the $60,000 bracket an hour is worth $30.73. Every minute costs 51 cents. So a 15 minute personal call at work cost $7.65. And those numbers don’t even include the cost of any benefits you receive.
Realizing how much your time costs the company makes you a better employee which might mean giving a better testimony to an unsaved boss when he sees you redeeming the time.
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"A man said, “Doc, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. When I touch my finger on my nose it hurts. When I touch my stomach it hurts. When I touch my knees it hurts.” The Dr. paused and said, “Sounds to me like you have a broken finger.”
Maybe Dr.’s are better than the rest of us at analyzing situations. That’s why many Dr.’s will do their hospital time, such as performing surgery, in the morning. Then in the afternoon they’ll schedule office visits and interactive time with other people.
That can be a good pattern for the rest of us as well. Learn what time of day you work best on creative assignments such as reading, writing and problem solving. For most of us that’s earlier in the day. That’s also the best time to read Scripture and focus your mind on the things of God. Then use the rest of the day to apply what you’ve learned.
Thinking like a Dr. might help you redeem the time.
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"It’s amazing how often we continue doing things that don’t work. Professional organizer Don Aslett has compiled a list of things that don’t work. They include:
Telling yourself you’ll remember what’s in an unmarked bottle
Paying for help in advance
Getting someone else to make apologies for you
Buying or agreeing to anything to get a free gift
Telling people something is funny before you tell it to them
Keeping the pie you made for the church dinner in the refrigerator
Eating tacos while driving
Miniature vacuums
Putting things on top of the car when you’re getting ready to depart
Hangers that are supposed to hold 10 pairs of pants
Plastic tops that are supposed to keep the fizz in the rest of your soft drink can
One coat paint
Freezing the leftovers you really didn’t like
We can waste a lot of time on things that don’t work. Ask God today to show you what will work, so you can redeem the time.
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