"What are you doing today to reach your goals? Christian leadership expert John Maxwell says there are four types of people when it comes to setting and reaching our goals.
1 Copouts- People who have basically have no goals.
2. Holdouts- People who don't know if they can reach their goals, so they're afraid to commit themselves.
3. Dropouts- People who set goals but quit when the going gets tough.
4. All-outs- People who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them.
Copouts, holdouts, dropouts, and all-outs: of these four it is only the all-outs who do what is necessary to get God's best for their lives. And they do it by redeeming the time.
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"Leadership expert John Maxwell lists 3 questions every Christian should ask when prioritizing their use of time.
1. What is required of me? This is the starting place. What things must I do to satisfy my employer, my spouse and God? These are the non-optional things that cannot be delegated.
2. What gives me the greatest return? As we go through life we begin to discover some activities yield a much higher return for the effort than do others. We want to concentrate on these activities next.
3. What gives me the greatest reward? If you only do what you must do and what gives a good return you may be productive but still unfulfilled. We also need to consider what gives us a sense of personal satisfaction.
These three questions, What is required, What gives the greatest return, and What gives the greatest reward, give us a good framework for determining Gods will and knowing how to redeem the time.
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"In the late 1800’s a humble Christian lady kept a toll gate near Crab Orchard, Kentucky. Mary McAfee invested each moment of her day for Jesus by giving a happy smile, a cheerful Christian greeting, and a prayer for all who went through her gate. A reporter for the Louisville KY paper heard of Mary and published the story of this incredibly radiant Christian woman who spoke to everyone about the Lord.
A minister in Mississippi, who was hungering for a deeper walk with God, read the article. He traveled 600 miles by train to meet Mary McAfee and ask the secret of her joy. After the third day of meeting and praying with this humble saint, the minister was filled with the Spirit of God and set aflame for The Lord.
He went on to become an evangelist under whose ministry multitudes were saved and called into the ministry. It all happened because a humble lady in a humble job chose to redeem the time.
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"Maybe you heard about the secretary was so excited about her new notebook computer she called a friend and said, “You won’t believe this new computer. It even has a button on the side you can push and a tray pops out for your cup holder.”
More and more the portable computer is becoming part of our lives and replacing the familiar desktop. While we as Christians don’t want to jump on every new craze or spend any more money than necessary on technology, making the switch to portable computing is becoming good stewardship for more and more people who depend on their computers to reach their greatest potential and be fully used of God.
If your work involves creative thinking, such as ministry, a notebook computer allows you to do your work in a creative environment of your choosing. Combining that, with the huge collection of economical digital Bible study materials available today, might make portable computing a smart way to redeem the time.
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