24 hours in a day

7 days in a week

365 days in a year

Time - the only equally distributed commodity.  We each have this minute before us.  How should we spend it?  Indeed we MUST spend it.  There is no saving it for later.  The question is "How do we spend it?"

Things to do . . .

bake bread

start supper

teach school

laundry (times 5 - at least)

4-H meeting

piano lessons

pay bills

_______________

_______________

_______________

It seems simple enough that if you have a moment to spend and a long list of things to do that you could choose from your list some task that would consume the next block of time.  Complete the task.  Return to the list.  By repeating this process again and again, the task list dwindles and so does the day.  Start over again tomorrow.  It does seem simple.

But life is more than you and your list.  There is a spouse's request, a child's need (or 2 or 3 or 10 ), a busy home, extra practices, pets, mechanical failures - all kinds of unplanned time consumers that were not on your list.

Even as I write this a small wiggly 3 year old body is consuming my lap space, my thoughts, and my time.  He is up at least 1 hour before I planned.  I am tempted to be frustrated as I need to get this written and posted today.  But as I look into those big blue eyes I hear myself saying, "Would you like to sit in my lap and help me write?"  Now seriously, how much help is a 3 year old in writing about time and task management?

He wants to write, too.  I like to write with pencils - the old fashioned yellow ones with real lead in a wooden tube.  I have lots of them.  I share pencils and a piece of paper.  He promptly put one pencil behind his ear and declares, "I can't think without my pencil behind my ear."  He picks up another pencil to begin writing.  Now where did he learn that - a pencil behind his ear?  I smile and settle in to write with a boy in my lap, chattering in my ear, and constant requests for help and affirmation ringing through what was a quiet early morning.

I can choose to spend the next minutes being frustrated and trying to complete my task at the expense of time, peace, and relationship.  Or I can set aside, for the moment, the task I had chosen from my list for this moment, and seize the opportunity that God provided for me to connect with my son - who will never be exactly this age again - drawing hair and rats and rocks and rocket ships.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:15-17 (NAS)

15 - Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise,

16 - making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 

17 - So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The word "time" in verse 16 is often interpreted as "opportunity".  So let's take that view as we study what God would have us to know about our time and task management.

1.  Each moment is an opportunity to walk in wisdom.

Verse 15 tells us to be careful how we walk - some versions say to walk "circumspectly" - cautiously or with awareness, diligently, most straight.  It also tells us to walk as one who is wise.  How do we walk in wisdom?

Establish my footsteps in Thy word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.  Psalm 119:133

We go to God's Word - the Bible.  By reading daily and studying, we learn how to walk and how to avoid sinful habits.  This Psalm is also an example of praying for God's guidance and protection.  We must read His Word and pray continually.  James 1:5-8 also tells us to ask God for wisdom, promising that He is faithful to give us wisdom if we ask in faith.  We also have an example of how to walk:

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.  Ephesians 5:1-2

We must be imitators of God, whom we see through the person of Jesus Christ - walking in love and sacrifice for others.  It is not all about our list of things to do.  We must walk in God's wisdom, established in His word and guided by His example.  This brings us to another opportunity.

2.  Each moment is an opportunity to build relationships.

Verse 16 tells us to make the most of our time - to save an opportunity from loss.  We also have a sense of urgency about this request because we are informed that the days are evil - implying that we will not have unlimited time and opportunity.  What does this have to do with relationships? 

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.  Let your speech always be seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.  Colossians 4:5-6

When God gives us an opportunity, it is most assuredly an opportunity to witness or minister to someone.

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.  Galatians 6:10

We are told to use the opportunities available to us to do good and speak well to believers and non-believers - a witness and an encouragement to those around us.  With word and with deed, we must build relationships.

3.  Each moment in an opportunity to seek the heart of God.

Verse 17 tells us that we should not be foolish, but understand the will of God.  From verses 15 and 16 we know that we are to walk in wisdom and use the moments in our day as opportunities to build relationships.  This would be the will of God, but beyond that, how do we know what the will of the Lord is?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

We must renew our minds daily by the reading of His word and through prayer so that we can know what is good and acceptable and perfect in His eyes.  Paul prayed for the people of Colossae:

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:9-10 (continued in verses 11-14)

It is a privilege beyond measure that we can go directly to Him who is Wisdom.  And through Him we can know His will and walk in a manner pleasing to Him.  We can also have the privilege of praying for others to know God's will so that they can walk in wisdom, build relationships through good works, and increase in their knowledge of God and their relationship with Him.

Making the most of our time and tasks is not all about minutes in a day and days in a year.  It is not all about the things on our list of things to do.  Being aware of our time and our tasks is good, but we must change our way of thinking.  The moments in our day are opportunities - opportunities to walk in wisdom, to build relationships, and to seek the heart of God.  Our to-do list must not trump God's plan.  It is His will that is good and acceptable and perfect.

Father, my prayer is that we will walk in Your wisdom, that we will see our time as opportunities for building relationships that will bring glory to You, and that we will take advantage of the opportunity to seek Your will in all situations.  Thank You, Lord.  Amen