Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise, making the very most of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 AMPC
Every once in a while I come back to this scripture with renewed purpose to make the most of my time. Similarly to money, without carefully documenting where you spend it you can turn around at the end of the day to find it all gone, without really knowing where it went. Time is the same way. There are many days I feel like I did many things, but the day is over and I don’t really know how productive it was toward my personal or kingdom goals. Did I just do a bunch of unrelated tasks to fill the day, or did what I do accomplish a kingdom purpose? Was I refreshed and renewed by my toil, or did my actions erode my energy stores? Though I thought the day was useful, does God think my day was useful?
Since school just started, this former teacher finds this time of year to be full of new possibilities and rethinking schedules and planning for success. I’m trying something new and I thought I’d share my idea. I have often done a calendar time budget, where you look at a whole week and plan out chunks of the day (I usually do an hour at a time). I take everything I WANT to be a part of my day, I put in activities, work, sleep, etc. and I plug it into slots on the calendar. So if I lived the ultra-structured calendar/time budget, every goal and every task I want to have happen over the course of a day or week would be accomplished. Usually I stop there. I don’t hold myself accountable to it, I just make the time budget so that I know that there are enough hours in the day to see it all happen.
This coming week I’m going to print it out and treat it like a time journal. I will actually mark it up and compare places where I did what I planned to do, and then make a note what I did instead if I diverge. That way instead of seeing my day as a blank canvas that I end up filling with all sorts of activities, it turns every activity into a choice. If I planned to work out in the 7:00 a.m. hour but instead slept in, then I have to face the fact that I chose extra comfort over wellness. If I mindlessly scrolled through Facebook during my afternoon time to be present with my girls, I will see that it was truly time squandered because it lessened my ability to connect with my kids. It really makes you confront the choices you make and if they are truly wise. If I am unsuccessful in using my planned time with the Lord and to pray and help others, then I really have to question if He is King in my life and that I do truly love my brothers and sisters, not just in a general sense. I will know pretty quickly after a few days if He is really my everything like I claim, or if he doesn’t even get the small sacrifice of time I’ve allotted for Him in my packed schedule. You love what you devote your time to, and what you fail to make room for is not a priority like you might think it is.
God, help each and every one of us know how to plan and structure our time to make it useful, worthwhile to the building of Your Kingdom, and give us the strength and perseverance to walk it out. Especially when it’s not what our flesh wants. Let Your Spirit reign in our thoughts and actions, and as we learn to number our days let every choice of activity glorify You immensely.