15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17
I had the privilege to teach the Wednesday night, adult class during Vacation Bible School. The lesson was on the Apostle Paul and his ‘system’. We talked about him ‘redeeming his time’ as the New King James writes, or making the best use of his time, as the ESV translates. We see many examples of Paul making the best use of his time, in learning, and teaching and evangelizing.
A question we all can ask ourselves is, “Am I making the best use of my time?” We all have times where we are more productive and times where we are less so. What if we looked at our day in ten-minute increments, what would we find? How much of our time was spent on creating the value that we seek? Also, what was our focus and emotional energy spent on? There is generally a big gap between what we say we did all day and what we actually did. There is often a large divide between what we did and what we wanted to do.
We all have the same 24 hours, or 1440 minutes, a day. How are you spending your time? Are you taking time to read, to study, to learn, to teach or to share?
When we give away our day, we give away our future.