Gratitude Series —Session 1: Time
Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time?
Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time in the day? Not enough hands for the tasks?
Perhaps God gave you only two hands and 24 hours in a day to teach you to look to Him and not find your identity in the number of things you can do/accomplish with your time.
Perhaps He wants you to have an eternal perspective on time. Perhaps he created you for a balance of rest and work. You were not just created to fill your days, you were created to abide with the Author of time. Time yields itself to no one except the Lord – what better time investment than that relationship with Him.
This is not only a VISION skill, it’s a VISION skill which has with it a call to ACTION.
The VISION + ACTION skills present this new perspective: to change how we perceive the time that we have AND choose to act accordingly.
“The key is not spending time, but investing it.”
Time as Worship
We honor God and bring about the furthering of His kingdom when we make the most of our time, talents and treasures.
We as followers should do all things for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:23) INCLUDING how we spend our time.
Time is short, and life is but a gift from God. Our call to ACTION is to use it to the fullest potential, knowing that the days are short.
Ambassadors of the Gospel
As ambassadors of the gospel, it is not only our responsibility, but our birthright as children of God, to usher in, make way for, and hold space for gospel moments to happen. That is using our time wisely.
Gratitude, Stewardship, and Time
As we step into a season of gratitude and thankfulness, let’s keep our time use on the forefront of things. At SUMMIT, we realize that gratitude and stewardship (another core skill area), are so closely interwoven. One begets another – they are cyclical in nature:
Gratitude necessitates good stewardship of resources, which in turn help create within us a gratitude and a thankful heart. Which, in turn, makes us steward our resources well.
Resources like time.
Questions to Ponder
I want to pose a few questions for you to ponder as we step into this season of gratitude:
How are you going to use your time better in the months, even years, or decades to come?
Limit the number of shows you watch?
What about the number of sporting events you watch highlight reels of?
How much time do you spend on social media that you could be using for other things?
A Challenge for the Season
I want to challenge you to take inventory of how you spend your time, especially during this holiday season. Do you want to do more meaningful things with your time? Take time to pray about how the Lord would have you spend your days.
Consider the practice of Sabbath rest to realign your heart with the Lord. Spend time in prayer, reading the word, and unplugging from the world.
“Tune thy heart to sing thy praise, Oh Lord!”
Consider volunteering your time to a cause you feel the Lord has laid on your heart. We would love to help you find places to leverage your time, talent, and treasure for the gospel! We would also love for that organization to be us 😉 — But truly, find a place to give your time for the growth of the Kingdom.
Lastly, take inventory of your time, then humbly ask and thoroughly obey whatever rerouting the Lord has asked of you. It will always be for your good and His glory.
For the sake of the gospel and the furthering of the Kingdom,
— Les