"The furthest you can travel from home is 12,000 miles. If you go any further than that you will be heading back home.
Lots of people want to go a lot of places and do a lot of things. And certainly there is nothing wrong with travel. I’ve given seminars in 49 states and several foreign countries. But, many people have the mistaken idea that if only they could go to some far away city or country they could become a great missionary and witness to multitudes for Christ.
But mission agencies know that the number one predictor of success on the mission field is how well you share the gospel at home. If you won’t give out a tract in Burger King, you probably won’t do much in Bongo Bongo either.
As one person said, wherever you go, there you are. I would add to that profound statement, “Wherever you go there you are, so go ahead right there and redeem the time.”
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"Several years ago in the remote Alaskan interior a discovery was made of the skeletons of two men in an old miner’s hut filled with gold. On a table was a letter describing their successful hunt for gold.
It told how they found the gold and were so eager to get it, they forgot about the early coming of winter as each day they accumulated more and more gold. As fall passed, and winter approached, the men awoke one morning to find a great snowstorm had trapped them in their hut. As the snow grew deeper there was no hope of escape. Their food was soon gone and they laid down to die with their gold.
These men were so taken with the treasures of the moment they ignored the coming winter. Today, most people give all their time to pursuing the things of this world while ignoring the need to prepare for heaven. How foolish and short sighted we are when we ignore the things of God and fail to redeem the time.
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"A man boarded a jet and noticed there was no flight crew. Soon a recorded voice came over the loudspeaker saying, “Welcome to our new fully automated aircraft. In order to serve you better we have replaced the pilots and flight attendants with a more efficient electronic system which controls every aspect of your flight. For your safety this new system has been thoroughly tested and nothing can possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong.
Not everything can be automated, but whatever can be automated in your daily routines should be. Assigned seats for children, at the table or in the car, cuts down on squabbles and makes things run smoothly. Developing methods for handling routine requests at work, such as printing out answers to a frequently asked question or making maps to a location you are often asked directions to, are examples of how we can automate to give better service.
The goal of automation is to free time for things we can’t automate, like playing with our children or sharing our faith. Automation redeems the time.
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"“Ma’am, how did this accident happen?” asked the policeman. “I was driving along when this tree suddenly appeared on the road in front of me” she responded. “I swerved to the right but another tree appeared so I swerved to the left and another tree appeared, then I …” Ma’am, the officer interrupted, “There are no trees on this road. That was your air freshener swinging back and forth.”
This driver obviously had a problem distinguishing the little things from the big things. And that’s a problem that keeps a lot of people from effective time management. Their focus is so consumed with the little trinkets dangling before their eyes that they miss the real issues God wants them to deal with.
You might spend an entire day cleaning house and never invite your unsaved neighbor to share a meal. You might work overtime to buy the new car, but never take time to pick up a child for church.
Avoiding distracting trinkets is redeeming the time.
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