The time we live in this world is very short, just as the Bible declares in James 4:14 that we people are …a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. When you take a close look into this reality you get a scare because this is true. I can assure you that as you read this article someone just died and realised that life was so short to have been wasted giving too much attention to things of this world. I will take you through the rough estimate of where our time in this world gets used on.
Significant time takers
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Taking the estimate of an average of 8 hours to sleep, we conclude that a person sleeps a third of his lifetime. Sixteen hours remain in a day.
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Another eight hours go to your employer each working day. That leaves you with 8 hours for other things.
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According to https://www.tempo.io/ , a person in America spend 67 minutes eating in a day, which I can comfortably assume it is more or less the same for the average human being everywhere. This leaves you with 7 hours.
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Travelling time to work, to church, walking to buy some food, window shopping, etc. Considering my own walking and travelling activities and that of people around me, I can estimate time of up to 1 hour 30 minutes per day. This leaves you with 5 hours 30 minutes.
Other time takers
There are then haphazard activities which every person must make time for which have not been listed. It includes the following:
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Time in the rest room
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Time for academic studies
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Cooking or preparing food
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Nursing children, etc.
Then comes the things that Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 8 talks about. These things take time from the remaining time, which is less than 5 hours 30 minutes. I will pick just a few that may take a significant amount of time.
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a time to plant and a time to uproot
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a time to kill and a time to heal
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a time to tear down and a time to build
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a time to weep and a time to laugh
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a time to mourn and a time to dance
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a time to search and a time to give up
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a time to be silent and a time to speak
It is not surprising that the Bible warns us on time management in many verses. A few of the verses are the following:
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John 9:4 – We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
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Colossians 4:5 – ‘….making the best use of time’.
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Psalm 39:5 – ‘Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah’
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Proverbs 18:9 – Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
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Job 14:1 – “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
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Ephesians 5:11 – Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are.
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Proverbs 31:3 – Don’t spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings.
Mandatory assignments
Christians should then know that there are specific assignments given by God for everyone of them. I will mentions just those I remember.
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Visiting the sick in hospital and their sick beds
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Visiting those in jail
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Preaching and evangelising
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Giving to the needy and widows
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Visiting and take care of parents
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Raising up children in a godly way
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Studying the Bible
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Praying and fasting
I’m am sure you can now appreciate the reality that time is short. I would like to conclude by stating that all that this means is that a wise person should plan his or her time. Clearly, it may not be possible to achieve all things that you wish for even when you have planned. However, getting started just after you read this article will surely make a difference. Delaying any further will most likely result in regrets.
Watch out for for time wasters such as unfruitful chatting, viewing social media updates, watching unedifying programmes of television, useless talking and many other things that makes us forget that time is a precious resource. I wish I could write a separate article on time wasters.
Be blessed.
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