Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
By Providence or happenstance, a good many quips and quotes land on the desk of a stewardship guy. Some are funny, others, inspiring. The following is neither.
Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
Flippant as that sounds methinks it very much applies to us here in America. Yes, sadly, even in the remnant church. We have more leisure time than ever, with more options of how to waste it. The fact that strength and dollars often accompany the heedless squander, makes it a travesty indeed.
Now, if you want to get on the wrong side of a Dutchman, just be the wasteful sort—of anything: time, money, breath, etc. And I’m mostly Dutch. Maybe God is too, because the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy are rife with admonitions against profligate living. (Only kidding about the God-is-Dutch part.)
But seriously, though, as followers of Christ this is a crucial issue because, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). I personally don’t want eternal death, do you? Of course not. We’re meant to LIVE!
Our good God gives us the responsibility to care for what belongs to Him: the beautiful land, rich treasure, His boundless love and grace, ... our very selves.
So, let’s talk about “time” for a minute, the 86,400 seconds that make up each day. We wake up in the morning (or evening, as your shift may dictate), assuming all of that belongs to us and that it’s guaranteed. But is it? Not if we acknowledge that we’re just stewards, managers of Someone Else’s goods. How do we start our day? With God, the Owner of it all? Or are our plans and wishes paramount? Sometimes we wake up planning to kill time, which seems particularly bad.
But one day soon we all must give account, and that should be enough to prod us in the right direction. Like other Bible verses dealing with this topic, Ephesians 5:15–16 will help us learn and practice truth. “See then that you walk circumspectly [carefully, prudently], not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Redeem the time—rescue from loss. Some have more work to do than others in this arena, having clocked-in to many wasted hours of worldly pleasure, gossip and self-worship.
Still, the Lord forgives, and ever seeks a closer walk with little us. Let’s listen to the counsel given by His humble servant in Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 106: “We cannot afford in the few days we have here on earth to spend our time in trifling and nothingness.”
Amen. May we prayerfully allow Him to help us live wisely and use to advantage the fleeting hours of each day, beginning each by being still and knowing that He is God. Counterintuitive as that may seem, it’s altogether necessary, because the days are truly evil.
Joel Nephew is director of Planned Giving and Trust Services for the Michigan Conference.
