3 REASONS TIME IS IMPORTANT

Matthew 24:36 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

So What’s So Special About Time, It’s Ticks on A Clock Right?

• Time is precious
• It is finite
• It is fixed
• Time is measured
• It is diminishing
• It is distributable
• Time is managed
• It is demanding
• It is determining

OK, Time Is All Those Things But Why Should I Care?

• Time is precious
• We all get the same amount of hours in a given day
• God has determined the number of our days; we won’t add to or take away that number
• God requires us to use our time wisely and in a manner that glorifies Him
• Time is measured
• Each tick of the clock is the same interval of time for each of us, no more or no less
• Each tick of the clock is one second closer to the finish (yes it’s kind of morose, but it’s reality)
• Each tick of the clock is a commodity, spent or distributed like money or any other resource
• Each tick of the clock is a second of opportunity passed
• Time is managed
• If you don’t manage time, time will manage you
• You must choose how to use your time; if you don’t you actually have chosen how to use it
• In real estate it’s location, location, location…in management of one’s time it’s allocate, allocate, allocate to the right things
• You must use tools to help effectively manage your time (calendars, task lists, time maps, etc.) and be intentional with your time
• Reflect on your performance in managing your time; how are you doing relative to how you plan to use your time and what do you need to change to better use your time
• How you manage your time determines how your life is spent and how you finish the race

 Applicable Scripture

Colossians 4:5 ESV

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Psalm 90:12 ESV

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Luke 14:28 ESV

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Psalm 39:4-5 ESV

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

2 Timothy 4:7 ESV

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

The next time you think life is passing you by it literally is.  That’s why realizing time is precious, measured and managed are “3 REASONS TIME IS IMPORTANT”.

I HAD A DREAM ABOUT YOU

Adapted From A Previously Published Article...

In a dream I had a few years ago I was walking down a familiar street in London with a dear Pastor friend. A door opened out into the street and an old college friend of mine emerged. He was noticeably high on drugs and had that absent looking stare in his eyes I had seen many times during the years we’d known one another. I spoke to him as he approached and he walked right past the Pastor and I without ever acknowledging we were there. We turned and I watched him disappear into the distance as suddenly as he had appeared from the door. I felt this deep sense that he was gone forever and I wondered if I would see him again. I remember wondering why my Pastor friend was in the dream.

The next day the doorbell rang at my home and I opened the door to find my Pastor friend from the dream standing there. I had not seen or spoken to him in many months. He said he thought about me and wanted to check on me and my family. I was almost speechless as I stood there fresh in the memory of my dream and fully believing that God had sent him at that very moment.

Now I'm not saying God sent me a vision in a dream like He did to the Prophets of old. But what He has done is place in my heart and mind the ability to discern from the things I see and hear.  His message to me here – use your relationships with those who are lost or afflicted to minister to them. For all we know it may be our only opportunity to share God with them. In the case of my friend from college, I’ll have to wait until I go home to Heaven to know if I’ll see him again. He died at a young age from a life of substance abuse. Although as Christians we are called to share the Gospel Message with others I never had a single conversation with him about God. And so it is that I say to my old college friend "To continue to remind me of my true purpose in this life I HAD A DREAM ABOUT YOU."