Redeeming the Time - Ruth L. Snyder

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16 KJV

The above verse is short, but challenging. (If you want to research this verse in detail, check out Biblios). The first part of the verse tells me I need to consciously choose to make good use of my time, every day. The second part of the verse reminds me there are many things which can distract me from making the best use of my time, and many of the distractions will lead me away from God and His purpose for my life.

I am a Christ follower, mother of five young children, wife of a loving husband, a church member, a school board trustee, a piano teacher, a community member, a writer, an InScribe member and executive member, and the list goes on. Each of these commitments brings certain expectations and responsibilities. I have been wrestling with choices lately. How do I know which activities and responsibilities I should take on? Or which ones to get rid of? Other people often have a different perspective. When they criticize me for my choices, how do I respond? I only have limited time and energy. If I say "yes" to everything I enjoy and am interested in, I will go crazy or at very least do a poor job. How do I pick priorities and schedule my days?

When I was in Bible College, a teacher showed me one way of sorting through choices - POGAS

PURPOSE: What is the overarching purpose of my life? The big picture that helps keep the little things in focus? The Westminster Catechism gives one possible example:

"Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,[1] and to enjoy him forever.[2]"

OBJECTIVES: When I look back on my life, what do I want to be able to say I accomplished? These are the different facets that work together to help achieve my life purpose. Examples could be: Relationship with God, Family responsibilities, and Impact on my community.

GOALS: Under each objective, I should set goals. What do I want to accomplish this month or this year? Some goals will be short term. Some will be longer term. Others may be life long. For example, I am working on reading through the Bible again. I have also just started a new course with Long Ridge Writers' Group, learning how to write a novel. I find it helpful to write my goals out, because it gives me something I can check back on. Even if I need to adjust my goal, it keeps me motivated and consciously working towards something I have decided I want to do.

and SCHEDULE: How can I break my goals up into bite-sized pieces? Every day I have time that I need to use wisely. By using my goals to set my schedule, priorities and choices become easier to make. For instance, in order to read through the Bible in a year, following a daily schedule is helpful. I also need to figure out what time of day works best to do my daily reading and meditation. For me, that means getting up early and having my devotions first thing in the morning. In order to complete my writing course, I have deadlines for assignments. However, it is also helpful to carve out a specific time of day to spend on my writing. With all the responsibilities I have, this is a challenge. However, I have discovered I focus best after I put my younger kids to bed and have an hour or two to devote to writing. If I find I consistently have more to do than fits on my schedule, I need to go back to the proverbial drawing board.

How about you? What have you found helpful when sorting out your priorities and choices? How are you redeeming your time?

Ruth L. Snyder

Check out Ruth's blogs: www.trusteesnyder.blogspot.com (Education information) www.ruthlsnyder.com (Ruth's writing and family life) and www.earlyyearssuccess.com (Information for caregivers of children ages 0-5)

Follow Ruth on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@wwjdr

Too Busy?

“I’d like to, but I’m just too busy. . . .”

Life is like a smorgasbord: so many activities to pick from, many look too good to pass up. My plate fills up so quickly and time, like my tummy, has a way of getting stuffed before the plate is empty. It takes careful planning to finish the choices before the end of each day. Even with the best of scheduling, interruptions or health problems or a host of other things can leave me with a pile of “leftovers.”

Sometimes I chide myself with the fact I have just as many hours as the President of the United States . . . and look at all he accomplishes. But my husband brings me back to earth with, “You have the same hours, dear, but not the same staff!”

Because we are made in the image of God and because we function best when living like it, some of the best secrets of time management are found by looking at His use of time. Aside from the fact that He created and controls it, He also stepped into it, in the person of Jesus Christ. We have a record of only three years of His life, yet in that three years, He made an impact on the world that no man has made before or since. I’m sure His use of time had something to do with it.

Before anyone protests “but He is God . . . ,” He was also fully human. He became tired, thirsty and hungry, just as we do. Not only that, His days only had twenty-four hours - just the same as ours.

A GOOD START: Perhaps the greatest secret of His time management was that Jesus “rose up before it was yet morning, to pray.”

The older I get the less I enjoy the ringing of my alarm clock. However, Jesus knew that the strength received from His heavenly Father would outlast any benefits of extra time snoozing. Isaiah 40 says “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” not “they that sleep as much as possible . . . ”

NO PROCRASTINATION: The Gospel of Mark uses the word “immediately” over and over as it describes Christ in action. He was not a procrastinator. He never made excuses, stalled, or hesitated in uncertainty. He did not put off until tomorrow what could and should be done right now.

Time management specialists confirm this principle. Number your priorities and then do them, one after the other, preferable the most difficult first, eliminating not only the chore but the stress of even thinking about it.

TRUST THE FATHER WITH INTERRUPTIONS: Jesus also saw interruptions as heaven-sent and was not flustered by them. Instead, He responded as if they were on His list from the beginning.

This is where I often falter. My tendency is to let the interruption ruin my attitude and even my day’s work. Realizing God sovereignly controls my life has helped me be more polite to door-to-door salesmen and telephone survey-takers.

PURPOSEFUL R AND R: Jesus was not lazy but He did take time to rest. “Jesus, being wearied from His journey, sat by the well” (John 4).

Laziness is resting because I don’t want to work. Recreation is resting because if I don’t rest I won’t have the energy to work. Taking time to be refueled is not necessarily selfish indulgence. Jesus even used His resting time to reach out to others.

JOB SELECTION: Jesus did not accept any task outside of His Father’s will. His early morning time alone was not wasted time. When He began His day, He knew where to go, what to do, and what was important for eternity. He kept His focus on the priorities laid down for Him.

What a waste to spend a day (or a whole life) on things that have no eternal value. But for those who belong to Him, Christ makes every minute count. After all, unlike the vast assortment of choices there are to fill it, a minute of time leaves no leftovers. Used wisely or wasted, when it is over, it is gone forever.

© Elsie Montgomery

I wrote this about fifteen years ago while in college—as a grandmother—and where I really needed to practice what I preached!