(Ephesians 5:15,16)
As many of you know, I am a very big sports fan. Sports has been a part of my life since I was very little. I have played, and still do play many different sports regularly, and have always followed all sports at all levels. This past Sunday was the final round of the PGA golf championship. I sat glued to my television for 5 solid hours as the drama of the Tiger Woods, Bob May showdown ended in a tie and went to 3 playoff holes. It was incredible drama, and one of those rare special moments sports can give us. Not with any guilt, but in reflection that evening, I thought how I had spent almost a quarter, 1/4th of my day, watching that golf tournament. Because of the historic nature of the event, I was glad I had the opportunity to see it, but it made me think how we really spend our time. As I have stated in past Devotionals, each day is a wonderful gift from God. It is unique unto itself, and when it is gone it
is never coming back. The one equalizer all people enjoy is we each get 24
hours each day. The issue then becomes how we use that time God gives us.
I am a firm believer in balance. I believe the Bible teaches us to live
balanced lives. Balance between our work, our family, our time of
relaxation, and our time serving God. Of course, throughout all of this,
the thread that runs through every aspect of our life is our personal
relationship with the Lord. That is with us at all times and is a part of
everything we do. We can't delegate our relationship with Christ to being
just a part of our life, but it must be the common element in ALL of our
life. Having said that, I want to encourage you and challenge you today to
take 15 minutes and sit down with a legal pad. Set up the following
categories down the left hand side of the page. Work/School, Family,
Recreation, Serving God, Sleep. Now, there are 168 hours in a week. As
best as you can, fill in the amount of hours you spend in each category.
The family time is time you spend with your wife and/or children doing
things together. The recreation time includes TV, the Internet, as well as
any hobbies you may have. Time involved in church activities and worship
would be included in the Serving God section. A good balance would be 40-50
hours in Work/School, 40-50 hours in Sleep, and 20-30 hours a week in
Family, Recreation, and Serving God. Now, of course, this will vary depending
on your living situations and other factors, but it will at least give you
some idea in black and white of how you spend your time.
The purpose of this is two-fold. First, to again get you to realize that in
ALL aspects of our life, our personal relationship with Christ must be
present. Secondly though, most people I have counseled in this area over
the years end up with the Family, Recreation, and Serving God sections
totally out of balance. It is usually weighted heavily in the Recreation
area. Most need to make an effort to turn off the TV and computer more, and
spend more time with the family and in ways to serve the Lord. We often use
the TV, computer, books, and hobbies as avenues of escape. There is nothing
wrong with that in perspective. It is a problem though when we fail to deal
properly with our family issues and commitments, when we have hours to spend
watching TV, but have no time to help out at church.
I don't need to say any more about this. The Holy Spirit is more than able
to take these words and convict those who need convicting. I will be
praying for you today, that you pay attention to how you are spending your
time. Never forget that each day is a precious gift from God and we are to
be good stewards of all that God gives us, including time. I love you, and
care about you so much. The Lord has brought these words into your life
today to show you how much He loves you. He wants you to be the best you
can be and know ALL of His blessings in your life. The fact is, the time we
have in this life is so very brief. While we need to balance our time as we
live in this world, let us never forget that everything we are, and
everything we have, including our time, belongs to Him.
