The Time of Your Life

 

 

 

 

 

The Time of Your Life

 

Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

Ephesians 5:16

 

Why is it that time drags when you want it to pass quickly and flies

when you need more of it?

It’s not very cooperative!

Time is the great equalizer.

We all have the same amount of it.

The difference between successful people and average people is this:

Achievers manage their time wisely.

Rather than wasting time or spending time, they invest time.

They make the most out of each moment.

In these difficult days, people are realizing that time is more important than money.

Money is a renewable resource - there are always places to get more of it.

 

But time is a limited resource.

You only have a certain allotment of time in your life.

When it's used up ... that’s it! YOUR TIME IS YOUR LIFE.

When you give someone your money, you’ve given them something that you can replace.

But when you give someone your time, you've given them a part of your life.

This means time management is really “life management.”

The Bible has this to say: “Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get.

These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly.

Make sure you understand what the Master wants”

(Ephesians 5:15b-17).

 

You could summarize these verses this way:

1. Analyze Your Lifestyle. Be aware of where your time is going.

2. Utilize The Present. Make the most of this moment.

3. Recognize What’s Important. Focus on priorities that last.

 

A question to consider throughout the day:

“How much of what I’m doing right now is going to count ten years from now …

50 years from now … or for eternity?”

You have just enough time to fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

If you can’t get it all done it means:

 

1. You’re doing things God never intended for you to do, or

2. You’re doing the right thing in the wrong way.

 

Prayer: “God, help me to manage my time wisely this week.”

 

 

 

Do It Now!

 

 

If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.

Ecclesiastes 11:4

 

Most of us have experienced the 8 Phases of Procrastination:

Phase 1: Hopeful – “I’ll start early this time.”

Phase 2: A little tension – “I’ve got to start soon.”

Phase 3: Creeping guilt – “I should have started sooner.”

Phase 4: False reassurance – “There is still time to do it.”

Phase 5: Getting desperate – “What’s wrong with me?”

Phase 6: Intense pain – “I can’t wait any longer!”

Phase 7: Get it over with – “Just get it done!”

Phase 8: Cycle repeats – “Next time, I’ll start earlier.”

 

Procrastination does tremendous damage to ourselves and others at work.

It causes unnecessary pressure and problems … and it wastes opportunities, time, and money.

 

The problem is: procrastination is addicting!

The more you succumb to it, the harder it is to change.

It becomes a way of life, causing you a lot of misery.

The Bible says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done”

(Ecclesiastes 11:4).

 

· Stop making excuses!

· Realize perfectionism paralyzes performance!

 

· Face your fears!

· Focus on the gain, not the pain!

 

· DO IT NOW!

What have you been putting off that you know you need to do? …

something at work … at home … at church?

DO IT NOW!

 

Prayer: “God, help me to DO what I already know I need to do. Help me to do it NOW!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beware of Shortcuts

 

People with integrity have firm footing,

but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall.

Proverbs 10:9

 

A few summers ago my family took a car vacation.

We loaded up our van and headed out for an adventure.

Our only goal was to see the western half of the United States.

By the end of our two week trip, we’d put over 5,000 miles on the odometer.

 

For most of the trip we simply focused on enjoying the journey

rather than rushing toward a destination.

But in one of the states we traveled through (which will remain unnamed)

we were so bored with the scenery that I got the bright idea of taking a shortcut to the next major town.

Looking at the map, the road for the shortcut appeared just fine – a straight shot to the next town.

 

It could save us about an hour of traveling time.

So we got off the beaten path and took the alternate route.

Big mistake! The road was fraught with difficulties:

 

· Construction work ...

· A line of slow trucks that we couldn’t pass ...

· Cattle (then sheep) in the middle of the road ...

· Potholes the size of meteor craters ... and

· No gas station or restroom!

 

The bottom line: my proposed shortcut ended up taking longer,

we nearly ran out of gas, and I had a very cranky family!

 

The lesson: Shortcuts are not always as good as they may seem.

Sometimes the shortest distance to a goal is NOT a straight line.

We’re often tempted to cut corners in order to speed things up or make a greater profit.

But ethical shortcuts or short-changing someone else will always come back to haunt us.

 

The Bible warns us:

“People with integrity have firm footing,

but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall”

(Proverbs 10:9).

 

 

 

 

What’s Your Excuse?

The lazy person is full of excuses, saying,

“If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!”

Proverbs 22:13

 

It’s rare to find people today who are willing to take complete responsibility for their actions.

In the victimization that’s present in our culture, our problems are always someone else’s fault.

You can blame whoever you want – the government, your parents, the school you went to,

 television, your boss, or the rest of society.

 

There’s no need for you to feel bad; anywhere you look there are people to blame.

Sometimes our excuses are quite humorous.

Consider these actual statements given to insurance companies by people involved in car accidents:

 

· “In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole!”

· “Coming home, I drove into the wrong driveway and hit a tree I don’t have.”

· “The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”

· “I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”

· “I was on the way to the doctor’s office with rear-end trouble when my universal joint gave way,

causing me to having an accident.”

· “I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.”

· “The telephone poll was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.”

· “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him!”

 

Silly? Yes.

But so are some of the excuses we offer, instead of taking responsibility for our mistakes, failures, and sins.

The Bible says, “The lazy person is full of excuses” (Proverbs 22:13).

Ben Franklin once observed,

“The person who is good at excuse-making is seldom good at anything else.”

 

 

 

 

Surviving Your Schedule

An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.

Proverbs 17:24

 

Do you ever get to the end of your day and think

“Did I accomplish anything today?” Where does all the time go?

If you don’t master your schedule, it will master you.

Here are three suggestions from the Bible for reducing the stress of your schedule:

 

Line up your priorities. Obviously, you don’t have time to do everything.

You must make choices. You must decide what’s really important and what isn’t.

Take some time to consider the direction of your life.

· “It is stupid to waste time on useless projects” (Proverbs 12:11).

· “You may make your plans, but God directs your actions” (Proverbs 16:9).

 

Lighten up your attitude. Do you really have to do everything on your to-do list?

No one is holding a gun to your head. A lot of your stress is self-imposed.

The Bible says that God gave us humor as a stress reliever.

• “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up” (Proverbs 12:25).

• “A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away” (Proverbs 14:30).

• “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength” (Proverbs 17:22).

Look up to God.

Stress is always a warning light that you’ve taken your focus off God

and are looking at your problems from your limited viewpoint.

I believe the single greatest cause of stress is this:

We take ourselves too seriously and we don’t take God seriously enough!

Need more time in your schedule?

• “Fear of the Lord lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short”

(Proverbs 10:27).

• “Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a place of refuge for their children”

(Proverbs 14:26).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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