The Value of time

​The Value of Time (Read time ≈ 9 min)
Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)
  3      Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.
 
We need to begin to approach our time usage more like we approach money usage. They say, “time is money”, but I would argue that time is actually far more valuable than money. Yes, we use our time to make money but there are things far more valuable than money that we can use our time for: quality time with loved ones, devotions in the Word and prayer to God, serving in church and ministry, witnessing and evangelizing to a lost world. Lifelong memories made, treasures in heaven stored up; things that money will never be able to buy. We budget our money (at least we should) to make sure we have enough to get the things we need and pay the bills we have and even plan to have a little extra “spending money”. We understand that when the bank account hits $0.00 we are out of money. Why don’t we view time this way? In fact, we should probably view time more strictly. Money comes and money goes, you can save some in the bank, you can borrow some, you can work extra hours to get more. Time, on the other hand, when it’s gone, it’s gone and there is no getting it back. No returns, no refunds. No earning more, no pulling from savings. It’s gone. We need to wisely budget our time.
 
When Jesus calls us to be “faithful in little” (Luke 16:10) He is not only talking about finances, but all the little areas of our lives that we often overlook and devalue. Time is certainly one of those things. The five or ten minutes, here… an hour of aimless activity there… We are all guilty of it. Free time is certainly valuable as well, but have we budgeted it into the 24 hours per day that we get? You see, the same issue that we can run into if we do not handle our money wisely can happen when we do not handle our time wisely. If you spend your utility bill money on a new fresh outfit, you’re going to be chillin’ in your new fit in the darkness of your unlit living room. If you do not handle your time wisely, you are going to find yourself at the end of your day with hours of unfinished tasks and only minutes left in the day; only to be faced with tomorrow that is already full of its own to-do list.
 
Then, the next issue; the unexpected. Again, like money things happen. You’re driving down the road and pop! Followed by the unmistakable sound of a flat tire rolling along the asphalt but you had no plans of getting a new tire. Things break, costs come up, problems arise and then money you didn’t plan to spend is needed. Time? It is no different. That blown tire is going to take some time also, at the very least, to change the flat on the side of the road. We find ourselves running from store to store to buy essential needs that we thought would be a one-stop shop. Sickness in the family usually shifts more responsibility onto another in the household and now they have more to take on. Unforeseen crisis of a friend who needs help. The list could go forever.
 
You all have a lot to do. So, how can you “commit your work to the LORD”, as the proverb says, so that you can see the promise that “your plans will be established” come to fruition? We need to be faithful with our time. Minute by minute, diligent and devoted to the Lord and the ministries He has put us in. You can wreck your money budget with a bunch of $5 purchases throughout the day or week and find yourself short on funds. Five minutes here and five minutes there will do the same with your day. Faithful in the little times of your day will cause you to have a big success and will show you to be a diligent steward of the time here on earth that God has given. As we go about our daily tasks, there is no room for deviation. Why? Because you can count on the unexpected. “Expect the unexpected”, they say. This, without a doubt, goes for planning your everyday life. The unexpected things of life are unpredictable. You don’t know when, what or how they will come about. “No duh” right? So, how can we be ready? The best way to be prepared for the unexpected things in life is to manage well the time that does go as expected. When the unexpected hits, and it will, if we haven’t properly managed our planned for scenarios, then we find ourselves in an even more challenging of a situation than if we had managed our time properly when things were going according to plan. Things we should have already gotten done are left undone while new issues and challenges arise out of everyday life. But if we have managed our expected scenarios properly, when the unexpected comes, we will be ready and able, ideally with enough time “in the bank”. God honors and blesses those who are, minute by minute, good and disciplined stewards of their time.
 
The last, and the most crucial element, that shows us how money is similar to time, is the principal of giving to God. Anyone who has ever been faithful to God in tithes and offerings knows that God will always provide enough for His children out of whatever amount is left. The same is true for time. So many people fail to tithe to the Lord because they think they cannot afford it. So many people fail to give time in their day to the Lord all because they are, “just SO BUSY, I can’t even, oof!”. There is nothing in life more important than spending time with God. Afterall, we were literally created to do just that. Every second of every day is given to us by God. Don’t we owe Him a few minutes? When we give our tithes to God, He makes more out of our 90% that is left than we ever could have with the 100%. When we give one hour to God, He will make more out of the 23 hours left in the day than we could have with the full 24 hours. Not to mention, one hour is not even 10% of the day. Dare we even tithe our time to the Lord and dedicate two hours and 24 minutes every day to Him? I dare say that the remaining 21 hours and 36 minutes will be quite fruitful if we do. Committing your work to the Lord would imply that we are getting Him involved with the work. We do this through prayer and devotion to God. A believer who is committing his work to the Lord is a believer who is giving time to the Lord. Someone who is depraving God of personal devotion is someone who is depraving themselves of supernatural help from God. If you find yourself constantly short on time, then give some of it to God each day and watch Him move supernaturally in the time that is left.