Being a Good Steward of Time

I got this on an email from a friend at church and thought I would share it with you. In light of that, I'm off to get my school day accomplished. Have a super Monday! We're trying to finish up the solar system and move on to seasons today. Maybe I'll have a solar system unit post up and possibly the last two posts for the homeschooling series by the end of this week! That is my goal anyway. I'm reading a very interesting book called "Order from Chaos: A 6 Step Plan for Organizing Yourself, Your Office, and Your Life" by Liz Davenport. I like her ideas. I love hearing new ways to help keep yourself on track... since I'm about as ADD as a mom could get without having to take medication (sometimes I wonder...)!

Do You Want to Waste Your Time?
Eliminate wasted time by being a good manager of God's blessings.
by Neal Pollard

Michael J. Davis wrote an article entitled, "Seven Ways to Waste Your Time."/1 Here are the seven he listed:

* Looking for things -- The average person spends up to two hours per day looking for lost stuff, which translates to almost fifteen hours a week saved by proper planning and space management.

* Perfectionism -- Settle for excellence instead.

* Sloppy first effort -- The opposite of perfectionism.

* Not understanding assignments -- Don't let pride keep you from seeking clarification or explanation.

* Assuming others' responsibilities -- Helping people is good and right, but being used isn't.

* Not consolidating tasks -- Use common sense and planning to avoid burning time, gasoline, and productivity.

* Anything that doesn't advance us toward our goals --Majoring in the minors keeps us in the Minor Leagues.

God has made his people managers, and as such we are to manage all the resources he bestows. That is not restricted to money. Remember, children are a gift from the Lord ( Psalm 127:3). God brought the first bride to the first groom ( Genesis 2:22). Additionally, we are to manage our talents and resources wisely ( Matthew 25:14-30).

Then, too, Paul says that we are to be "making the most of [our] time" ( Ephesians 5:16). Reinecker says the phrase "making the most" is from a word meaning "to buy up at the market place. Either with the meaning 'seizing the opportunity,' 'making your market to the full from the opportunity of this life' (Abbott) or with the meaning 'buying back (at the expense of personal watchfulness and self-denial) the present time, which is now being used for evil and godless purposes' (MM)."/2

Wasting time may not seem as evil and godless as surfing Internet pornography, stealing company funds, flirting with someone other than your spouse on the job, or the like, but taking a slothful, slacker's approach to life is still evil. It wastes the precious commodity called time.

Seek ways to cut back and eventually eliminate wasted time! It is good management of God's blessings.
__________
1/ The Toastmaster, August 1999, p. 11.
2/ Linguistic Key to the Greek NT, p. 537.

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