A Time For Everything

In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, the writer says there is a time for everything.  How true and how difficult it is for so many to get a proper grasp of this truth.

Gordon MacDonald says that the central principle of all personal organization of time is simple: time must be budgeted! Most learned (or should have) this about money a long time ago. When we discovered that we rarely had enough money to do all the things we wanted to do with it, we found it prudent to sit down and think through our financial priorities.

When money is limited, one budgets. And when time is in limited supply, the same principle holds. The disorganized person must have a budgeting perspective. And that means determining the difference between the fixed -- what one must do -- and the discretionary -- what one would like to do.

Sometimes we have to learn the hard way that we have to say no to things I really wanted to do in order to say yes to the very best things. Approval from people many times has too great an influence on us. We want people to really like us so we find it hard to say no. When a person learns to say no to some good things, he runs the risk of making enemies and gaining critics; and who needs more of those?

But if we are to command our time, we will have to bite the bullet and say a firm but courteous no to opportunities that are good but not the best. That demands, as it did in the ministry of our Lord, a sense of our mission. What are we called to do? What do we do best with our time? What are the necessities without which we cannot get along? You know, like our relationships: with God, with our spouses, and with our children. Everything else has to be considered negotiable: discretionary, not necessary.

I love reading good things that are so helpful to make my life more effective for God's Kingdom work. Thanks Gordon MacDonald for your help in this area.

So Up North Wisdom suggests you consider some questions:  What activities require more time than they are worth? What relationships could use a bigger time investment?  Are you spending some time each day talking to the God who loves you and desires to do good things in your life? How could you use time with your family better? So after evaluating your schedule, reorganize it so that it accurately reflects your priorities.

And always remember that with God's help and your cooperation -- The Best Is Yet To Come!!