I suspect none of us would complain about a windfall. I remember a TV show from years ago that was made up of different stories and scenarios of people winning the lottery. The stories were, of course, made up to deliver entertainment for TV. After it was over for the evening I can remember thinking, “What would I do if I won the lottery? How would I distribute the money?” It was a moot point: I never played the lottery so it was a silly game. But even now I wonder occasionally what I would do if I came into a big sum of money.
Let me give you a scenario. Your bank calls and says, “I have some good news for you. Some wealthy person admires all you do and who you are so he is going to deposit 86,400 cents into your account.” You are most certainly shocked. Seriously? your calculator says that is $864 per day. WOW!
The banker interrupts your fantasy with reality. “However, there is a stipulation. Each penny must be spent every day. What isn’t spent you lose. Every day. $864. That is $6048/week and $314,496 per year. That is a lot of money!! More than you will ever seen normally. It is also a fantasy.
You probably know where I’m going with this. While the money scenario is a fantasy, there is something that is not. Each day God deposits 86,400 seconds into your account per day. Use them or lose them. It is called time. And no matter our efforts we will never make up for lost time. “I’m going to catch up on my sleep.” No, you never do. You may sleep a little longer than normal, but you never catch up.
The Bible speaks about “redeeming the time for the days are evil.” In other words, don’t let time slip away. Make the most of every opportunity that comes before you. Most important of all, don’t say, “I’ll wait until tomorrow.” First, tomorrow never comes. Second, no one is guaranteed tomorrow.
We are given one day at a time, one moment at a time. May we make the most of each day God gives to us.
Blessings, Bill!
Exactly my point Martha. No waste.
OK OK OK… I get the point!!! 3 times in the last day I have heard the same message from 3 different sources.
1) Yesterday while walking on my treadmill, I have been listening to an audio book called “Lies Men Believe”. Chapter 7 is titled “about Works and Wealth”, and Lie 27… “How I spend my time is my business”…
It starts out stating there are 168 hours in the week and goes on to break down how the average person spends those 168 hours each week.
—If that weren’t convicting enough….
2) I woke up this morning with an overwhelming feeling that I need to have a specific plan today. A plan to get some very specific things done. A plan to stay on task and not waste any of the time I have been provided.
3) Your post…
I think it is time for me to really sit down and begin noting where I am spending my time. I know there is more waste than there should be…
I reckon I ought to consider that good! Confirmation from another source is good, but from two others? Wow! I know you will figure it out my friend. Just make time to ride. 😂😂
Good point Bill. I think about how many opportunities I have missed to pray for someone or to talk to someone about the Lord, and thought, (to myself) I just did not have the ideal situation I was looking for. I walk away and think I blew it, I did not do what I should have done. Wasting time on things that really do not matter, I have a plethora of excuses, and none of them are good. Using the time that God gives us productively and on the correct things to advance His kingdom, should always be our goal, something that I continually must work at.
Yours is a coming malady Gail. Thinking there is time only to find out later that it was missed. May God make us more aware.
Such true & sobering thoughts, Pastor Bill. God help me to do better on redeeming every second and living it for all it’s worth.
You are not alone Cheryl in your thoughts. We all need a good dose of redeeming the time.