Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk–not as unwise people but as wise–making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Ephesians 5:15-17 HCSB

I’ve often wondered why we talk about making time. We can’t make time. God makes time, we must make the most out of it. We must budget it and organize and prioritize our schedules, but we are only given a limited amount of time and we are given the responsibility of making the most of it. A good example of this is taking someone to a place like New York for the first time. These cities are so big and so rich in history. They offer so many things to do. If you are planning a trip to one of these cities it is wise to figure out what is important to those traveling and do an itinerary for the days you will be there. Several years ago, I went with some friends from work who had never been there. We all wanted to see some of the same sights, but they wanted to go to museums and I wanted to get some shopping in, so we chose a couple of days where we would divide and conquer. We were all able to get the things done that we wanted to do in the four days that we were there.

We all have those days where we feel that 24 hours just isn’t enough to get everything done, but this is what God has given us. Often times our lives are like this really busy vacation where we are trying to cram everything into a small time frame and we just don’t know how we will do it all. Many employers now want one person to do the work of three people, so people are spread thin and it just seems as the work just keeps piling on. So how are we to maintain our sanity and get the work done? Well, I can share a little secret I learned many years ago.

I had a very demanding job. It was filled with deadlines and there was always way more work to do than there was time in any given day. There would be times when I would go in to the office on Saturday while it was quiet without the phone ringing or people coming in to the office I could get a lot of work done. I then had the bright idea that by going in Sunday I could actually get caught up, maybe. But I learned that there was a pattern. When I came in on Sunday, I would have a horrendous Monday. You see, in my job, the harder you worked the more work you actually created for yourself. So Monday would come with all kinds of problems and issues that added a lot more work. But, if I went to church on Sunday, I would have a super quiet Monday. This was truly a miracle, because Mondays were usually super busy. But by giving God the first day of my week, He gave me a quiet Monday and helped me have a smooth week.

The Bible verse that explains this best is Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. When I put God first, He makes sure that I have time to do the things that I need to do. By giving God the first part of my day, He makes the rest of my day go smoothly. By paying God the first ten percent of my income, He makes sure that I can pay all my other bills.

Our time is like money, we can’t make it. We can earn money and we can prioritize our time. We can budget money and time, but most importantly we should be focused on God. We should give him the first and the best of all that we have. In doing so, we can rest assured that He will take good care of us and be sure that we have all that we need.

My friend if you have worn yourself to a frazzle wondering how you will do everything on your to-do list, give that list to God. He will work it out.

I also encourage you not to limit your time that you give to God. Don’t limit the time you give to Him to the few minutes when you do your devotionals and pray, but focus on Him throughout the day. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. This means that in all that we do, we should consult God and allow Him to guide us. We should never rely on our own understanding, but trust in Him in all that we do (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Our scripture passage tells us that the days are evil, the devil lurks around every corner and is hoping to catch us at a weak moment where we are tired. He will use this time to tempt us and get us into trouble. We must be alert.

I beg of you today to use your time wisely, none of us know how much of it we truly have.

Have a great day!