Redeem Your Time

Buzzz. The alarm sounds. You smack the snooze button and roll back over.

Another five more glorious minutes of sleep. Buzzz. The clock won’t wait for you. It’s time to get up.

As you climb out of bed, the minutes are ticking away… each one a precious opportunity to live your life and make a difference in the world.

As musician Andrew Osenga says:

These days, they are a treasure

Let’s not waste the second hand

Let your love rage like a lion

Let your heart break like a lamb

Time is an invaluable resource.

Imagine if someone gave you $100 to spend each day. At the end of the day, if you didn’t spend it, the money was gone. Would you waste it or find a way to spend every penny? It’s the same with time. We have 24 hours to spend in a day. Why would we waste a second of it?

So what’s the best way to spend our time?

Rest.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but getting rest is a crucial use of our time. We can’t be our best in the waking hours if we’re not refreshed and re-energized physically and mentally. Conventional wisdom suggests we all need at least 6-8 hours of sleep each day. That’s a good use of our time. Rest up and get recharged for the other hours in the day that demand your attention.

Work.

We’re all given work to do in this life. Whether we sit behind a desk or mow lawns, work is a gift. It’s a gift to us, and a gift to those we serve through our work.

If we work 40 hours a week from roughly age 20 to age 65, we’ll work more than 90,000 hours in a lifetime. That’s a lot of hours! But it’s a good use of the time God has given us on this Earth. Let’s make it count.

Play.

Do you like to golf? Read books? See movies? Paint? Crochet? Go for a run? All these activities are good uses of our time. They give us pleasure, develop new skills, and improve us as human beings.

It doesn’t matter what the activity is, as long as it’s not sinful or hurting anyone. God wants us to enjoy our time, and “play time” is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it helps us become more well-rounded humans. When we play, we’re being good stewards of the time we’ve been given.

Serve.

Jesus rested, worked, and played. He also served others. In fact, that seemed to be his main priority. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). If we want to be like Jesus, service is an excellent use of our time.

You can volunteer at a homeless shelter. Help build a house for someone. Visit a lonely friend. It doesn’t have to be something “big.” As Mother Teresa said, “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” Maybe you could pick up groceries for a neighbor. Or write a letter to someone who needs encouragement. Service happens in many forms. Get creative, and serve someone.

If you find an imbalance in your rest-work-play-serve routine, see if there’s a way you can better manage the 24 hours a day God had gifted you.

As Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.” Live the life you have been given, with all its glorious possibilities. Or as Saint Paul said, “Redeem the time.” (Ephesians 5:16). Another translation puts it: “Make the most of every opportunity.”

Get your rest, then wake up, and make the most of your next 24 hours.