DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

Introduction

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time for it is the stuff life is made of.” Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin

“Time is the most important thing in the world” – Thomas Edison

You wake up with the alarm clock. Your day is controlled by time. Deadlines are everywhere. People and things demand your attention. There’s no way to get everything done that you want to do and that everyone else wants you to do. Moreover, these are all in conflict with one another. The world says, “the squeaky wheel gets greased” but that’s no way to live life. In today’s lesson, we’re going to consider the cold, hard facts about time, what the Bible says about time and how to use it, and make appropriate application so you have something to take with you and make meaningful changes in your life

I The Cold Hard Facts About Time

The first thing to do in thinking about our time is coming to grips with the cold hard facts:

A The Basics

60 minutes in an hour

24 hours in a day

7 day sin a week

4 weeks in a month

52 weeks in a year

B What Are We Really Left With in Each Da

Start with 24 hours

8 hours of sleep = 16 hours

8 hours of work for working people = 8 hours (Monday-Friday)

1.5 hours minimum for meals = 6.5 hours (Monday-Friday)

1.0 Transportation and running about = 5.5 hours (Monday-Friday)

30 minutes for break/recreation 5.0 (Monday-Friday)

Remaining Discretionary Time for errands and all other activities = 5.0 (Monday- Fridays, but add 8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays)

Thus, on Saturdays and Sundays (if one works weekends), you have 13 discretionary hours per day.

C. Social Media Impact

One study showed that Americans spent an average of 9 hours in front of screens each day last year. That time must come from somewhere!

Facebook = 1 hour (among older users)

Instagram = 1 hour amongst Gen Z

Snapchat = 1 hour amongst Gen Z

As there’s not enough hours in the day to account for this, it must come from elsewhere.

D I Have So Many Things To Do

Look at all my priorities:

My Relationship with God

Personal Bible Study

Marriage

Family

Work (accounted for)

Personal Evangelism

Hobbies

Miscellaneous Items

I CAN’T GET IT ALL DONE!!!

E The Conclusion

Regardless of how some of these numbers may work out for you, it’s clear that time is one of our most precious commodities. We can never get it back. Thus, once it’s spent, it’s irretrievably gone. We must use our time wisely. Thus so far the wisdom of the world compelled by pragmatism. This demonstrates the truth of Ephesians 5:16.

II What the Bible Teaches About Use of Time

A Time is Irrlevant to God

Psa. 90:2; 2 Peter 3:8

B Time is Precious to Us Because We Have Little Of it

Job 14:1; Psa. 90:10; Prov. 17:1; James 4:13-14

C. Man is Fragile and His End is Near

Psa. 39:4, 90:12;

D. God Strongly Condemns Idleness

Jesus condemns it by implication in the Parable of the Vineyard (Matt:20:6)

E. Penalties for Idleness

Hunger (Prov. 19:15)

Poverty (Prov. 23:21)

Many evils that damage spirituality (1 Tim. 5:13)

Pondering past mistakes rather than being busy about work (Phil. 3:13-14)

F. Governor Felix

He wouldn’t make a decision but put Paul off until he left his office, having never gotten around to the “convenient season to hear Paul again” [Acts 24]

III How Time Is Wasted

Lack of Application (Prov. 6:6)

Lack of organization (Prov. 22:29; Numbers 2 []ordering of the Camp)

Reading cheap literature (Prov. 23:7)

E.g.: trashy romance novels, works of inferior quality, things that don’t improve us

Unwholesome recreation and entertainment (1 Thess. 5:22)

Thinking about imagined wrongs (Matt. 18:15)

The mind feeds on and runs away with itself

Worrying about the future [see the lilies of the field]

Gossip (1 Peter 3:10)

Staying in bed longer than is necessary (Prov. 20:13)

And Abraham arose early in the morning [Gen. 22]

Unnecessarily long telephone calls and wasting time on social media posts. (Prov. 10:19)

IV Application

A The Problem

When we consider that lack of organization and application are the causes of all the evils of wasting time, the solution becomes clear: organize your time and then apply yourself to that organization.

Illustration: the Priorities jar (Big rocks, little pebbles, sand, and water)

B The Solution

Begin organizing your time with spiritual priorities in mind. You don’t have to start big with a quarterly preview. Consider these steps in order

1 Daily Big 3: What must I do today?

Then apply that to a week

2 What other items do I need to get done today Then apply that to a week

3 What is your schedule for today, e.g. 5AM-9PM

Then apply that to a week

4 Try a weekly preview

Assessment

What happened last week?

What did you accomplish?

What was good or bad?

Did you learn anything?

Plan for the Coming Week

What will you keep for this next week?

Do a list sweep of all the things you need for this coming week from last week’s notes

Put big items/appoints for Monday-Sunday

What are your Big 3 weekly goals for this week?

What are other things you want to incorporate into the coming week?

Have you put in your daily Bible reading and prayer time?

Try a monthly preview

Try a Quarterly preview

Try an Annual Preview

Conclusion

If time is so limited, what have you done with yours? What are you doing with it now? What will you do with it tomorrow if that should be granted to us? How much have you served God? How much have you served yourself?

If you’re not a Christian, you’re not planning for eternity, but just wasting your life here on things that will ultimately not matter. Do you want to matter? Then become a Christian. Here’s how:[discuss the Ethiopian eunoch].

Whatever need you may have, we have an opportunity for you to make that need known at this time. Don’t waste your time. Today is the day of salvation and tomorrow may be too late. [Citation]