Psalms 31:15 My times are in thy hand:
This devotional was written by Dr. Robert A. Cook. You can subscribe to his free daily email articles at Walk With The King Today and listen to his Spirit-filled 15-minute messages. Used with written permission.
Ephesians 5:15-16 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Read also Ephesians 5:1-16.
A professor friend was commenting on the apparent lack of purpose of so many college students. ‘Come on now, Prof,’ I chided, ‘remember when you were twenty-one. You were probably doing some shifting back and forth yourself, weren’t you?’ He smiled, looked me right in the eye, and said, ‘When I was twenty-one, I had nearly finished an accelerated program that got me through college in three years! No time to drift!’
Connect your use of time with your purpose in life. The Apostle Paul spoke of having been called by God’s grace ‘to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen’ (Gal. 1:16). He wanted me to preach in the regions beyond (2 Cor. 10:16). He said, ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some (1 Cor. 9:22). Paul’s goals were all in order: to preach to the nations, to pioneer the Gospel, to know the power of the risen Christ in his life, and to be perfectly adaptable in his methods so that he could reach as many as possible.
Learn to conserve your time. Establish priorities and complete them in order of importance. Cluster your phone calls; do your correspondence at one sitting. Learn to say no—kindly! Refuse requests that only dissipate your time and strength. Before a day ends, you may have not exhausted what you wanted to do, but you will have finished the important things and you’ll feel great about it.
Small thought here. Learn the difference between spending time and investing it. Once you have determined your life goal, make every moment count in some way toward its attainment. Don’t be a specialist in trivia. ‘This one thing I do,’ said Paul (Phil. 3:13). Far better that you do fewer things, join fewer clubs, attend fewer meetings, look at fewer TV programs if it will enable you to focus on your God-given purpose.
