The Trade of Time

Everyone has exactly 1440 minutes in each day. 1440 minutes of free time that we fill with our priorities, reaching our goals, and sometimes just slacking. Oh, and there’s that every important thing called ‘sleep’. Which, if we’re sleeping well, takes a third of our time.

So, really, we have 950 waking minutes of the day in which to get the things done that we’ve planned to do.

But, how, then are we meant to use our time?

God has given us the time we have as a gift. He has numbered our days on earth, and has control of them. Psalm 90 captures the futility and frailty of human life well.

Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Ps. 90:10

God reminds us in this Psalm that our lives are temporary, and do not last. The Psalmist cries to God to

Teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom

Ps. 90:12

True wisdom lies in counting our hours and minutes, and using our time well, so that we might be wise in this life. True wisdom is knowing that our time is finite, and using that to achieve our goals and mission. That means that every decision is a trade in time.

But that’s hard, isn’t it? As Christians, we’re not given a prescriptive day-to-day calendar. How we use our time is not as straight forward as we’d like it to be. Although we didn’t get a calendar, God gives us the mission and goal.

God’s priorities should be our priorities

When Jesus left the earth to return to the Father, he gave his disciples, including us, the mission to which we are called as his people.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matt. 28:18-20

God has set the agenda for our calendar. Our mission should match his mission. In everything we should honour the mission of God. Which can be hard can’t it? It can be hard because we’re juggling the hardships of life, and sometimes roadblocks seem to appear, like sickness, which make achieving the mission and goal of God seemingly impossible.

What about rest, does that count towards the mission of God? What about sleep? What about just hanging with friends, or enjoying a quiet time listening to music? What do we do if we fall sick?

Jesus rested… so should you.

There are few points in the gospels when Jesus removes himself from the hustle of life, with the goal to pray and to sleep. While the storm rages around him, Jesus sleeps. He’s dead tired. And in the most stressful times of life, Jesus prayed. In the garden of Gethsemane while waiting to be betrayed, and while being pestered to heal every one. Jesus showed that humans are finite in their resources, and sleep and prayer are necessary.

So, if we’re trading off our sleep and prayer time to finish that assignment, spend time watching YouTube, Netflix or whatever, we’re not being wise in use of our time. And that all-nighter you have planned the day before an assignment due, is probably going to be more a hindrance than help. Rest is an important and vital part of life, it should be planned.

God doesn’t demand perfection from us…

God graciously lavished us with his salvation, by grace. God’s grace means exactly that, it is independent of anything we can achieve, or have done already. God’s salvation actually humbles us, because it highlights that we’re not perfect. We are sinners in need of his salvation.

In this broken and troubled world, perfection does not exist. Having that mindset actually helps us, rather than hinders, our efforts for God’s mission. The promise that Jesus will be with us until the end shows that he’s not concerned whether or not we’re perfect, but he’s concerned that we’re on board as his disciples. Sometimes we will trade off time to make sure everything is perfect. But it will never be perfect. But knowing that we’re acceptable to God because he has made us righteous by the death of his son, not because we’re perfect, takes the pressure off trying to impress Jesus by trying to be perfect at everything.

950 Minutes… how will you use them?

Now, I didn’t write this to make you feel guilty. Everyone is different, but everyone has the same amount of time. What works for someone, isn’t going to work for others. We all have different energy levels, some of us need to play sport to function mentally, others need to read. This isn’t one of those posts that says: “You should do more of this”. God has given you freedom to determine what is best, however, those decisions should be made with his wisdom in mind. God has given us a mission, and it should dominate how we make our decisions. Every decision is a trade in time. Time that we will never get back. We’re not saved by how we use our time, we are saved by trusting Jesus.

But, if I may, can I leave you with some pointed questions that might help you determine your priorities?

1. Are you concerned about uni marks, and the amount of time it takes to get that D/HD? In the quest for uni marks are you trading off vital sleep, rest, spending time with family, the church body, and friends, and prayer?
2. How much time are you spending on social media? Does that reflect your priorities, or the mission of God?
3. Are you ok when things don’t go the way you planned? Does that reflect a dependence on God, or yourself? What happens when you feel like something isn’t perfect?

And, if by the end of this, you’re still confused as I am, about how on earth God can give us so much freedom, yet isn’t prescriptive in what I should be doing in every part of my day, then this year’s Mid Year Conference is for you! Register here: afeswa.info/myc