Don’t let
the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your
minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for
you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
(Romans 12.1 Phillips)
Anyone
who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus
lived. (1 John 2.6 MSG)
Time. 24/7. A precious commodity. When we learn to pay
attention to the little time we really have, it helps us to be wise about the
things and people we spend time with.
Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in
wisdom.
(Psalms 90:12 GWORD)
Life is just a
minute—only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon you—can't
refuse it.
Didn't seek it—didn't
choose it.
But it's up to you to
use it.
You must suffer if
you lose it.
Give an account if
you abuse it.
Just a tiny, little
minute,
But eternity is in
it!
(By Dr. Benjamin
Elijah Mays)
Look at your calendar; examine what you are
spending your time doing. Do the hours spent reflect your priorities?
Some things can’t change: you can’t decide
to not work because it isn’t your priority over your family. What you can do, however, is to be sure that
your priorities are lived out apart from work.
Too many people are not living out their priorities. You cannot say you
put God and His Word first and only spend one hour a week at Church. If you say
God is first, and your relationship with the Lord is first, your calendar
cannot give no time at all to spending in the Word, in prayer, and in
Church activities that matter for eternity.
That is why the Lord demands the first
fruits of your day. Jesus Himself spent time daily in prayer, how much more
we need to. Without prayer the hand of God does not move. I don’t want to leave
things to chance that the Lord can
intervene in if someone is praying! Especially in raising children!
If you rarely spend time in Bible study, prayer, and doing things for
the Lord and His people, this imbalance will yield a harvest in the of your
children, and the time for the Lord and in His Word and time for Church
activities will be pushed aside to the next level that you even did it.
If you want Jesus
Christ to rule in your lives and homes, He wants first place there. How have you given Him first place in your homes?
If you want your
spouse to be number 2 in your life, PRIORITIZE
them on your calendar and with TIME.
If you want your
family to be number 3 in your life, make FAMILY a
priority with TIME investments. That means to NOT live like you are divorced
with the husband taking the kids so the wife can have a “break” and vice versa;
but it means spending time as a FAMILY with mother and father and children
together by choice. The more you practice this the more you will train
your children to make it a joyous thing. The less you practice this the more difficult it is to have family time.
Sadly, too many people prioritize people, events, and things on their
calendars that will not even matter in 10 years. Many people are given priority
that won’t even be in your lives in 10 years while your children and
spouse are left unattended. Too many other things are given priority so that
your family time looks more like a split custody situation than a family.
This week look at your
calendar and be sure you are living out your priorities!
