Making the Best Use of Your Time

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

─ Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV

John Greenleaf Whittier made this statement “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’”

Time grows in value just before it’s about to run out. How many times have you said, “Just give me one more minute” when your time was almost up? Or what about the stories we hear about people as they neared the end of their lives—maybe they received a diagnosis of a terminal illness—and suddenly they changed their priorities.

Your calendar is your personal autobiography. If you write down the things that you do all day, every day, and then take a look at it, you could travel through months of your life and see exactly who you are. Where you give your time is a picture of who you are.

Today’s verse encourages us to make the best use of our time and to understand the will of the Lord. We can’t manage time; we can only manage ourselves. In order to manage ourselves effectively we must first be honest with ourselves. Ask yourself, “What is it in my life that keeps me from using my time wisely? Is it procrastination?”

And second, we must be realistic with ourselves. The truth is, the only person who can manage you—is you! We must be responsible for how we choose to use the time God has given us and be honest about what motivates us to be deliberate in the use of our time.

The reality is we have 24 hours in a day, and how we spend that time is up to us. Truly successful people barter their time for fewer but more important things, while unsuccessful people barter their time for lots of different things. When we are focused on a few things that are of great value, we get more return than when we give away ten minutes here and 15 minutes there.

Today’s One Thing

Sit down today with your calendar and look back over the last 30 days. Where have you spent most of your time? What does that tell you about yourself? What are you investing in? What adjustments do you need to make to better manage yourself in the next 30 days?

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