DAY 14 - EXCHANGING TIME
KEATON TUCKER, YA GROUPS TEAM LEAD
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” - Ephesians 5:15-16
In college, I had to take a class on time management. The whole focus of the class was to learn effective techniques to manage time well so we could in turn maximize productivity and effectiveness. The idea was to identify our most valuable tasks or activities (called our MVA’s) and to make sure we scheduled them in our calendar so we didn’t put them off. Our teacher pointed out to us that our most valuable activities are the ones that we tend to put off as other small things come up which are less important and distracting.
How we spend our time matters. What we spend our time on matters.
It’s something worth giving our consideration. Time must be spent. It cannot be saved or stored up. We are given 24 hours each day to spend or exchange how we choose.
In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes in chapter 5, “'Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16). “How you walk” is bible language for “how you live” or “how you spend your time”. Paul instructs us to look carefully at how we spend our time instead of recklessly spending it on things that don’t matter.
In his book Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders writes, “The way we employ our hours after provision has been made for work, meals, and sleep, will determine if we develop into mediocre people or powerful people...a discretionary hour can be wisely invested or foolishly wasted...minutes and hours wisely used translate into an abundant life.”
Remember, you get to choose how you spend your time. Will you exchange it for some extra time on Netflix and entertainment or social media? Or will you exchange it for something more eternal like a phone call to a friend, spending time in scripture or serving your neighborhood? Use wisdom. Ask yourself, “what are my most valuable activities?”
I encourage you to ask yourself this question for your day to day activities: “If I spend my time doing ______, what will I get in return?” There is always a return. Always.