The most common gift that God gave any human is time. We have all said the words “if I only had more time.” It is easy to think that having more time would change things. I have felt that many times in my life. Every human being is different. We have different heights, weights, families, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures. The one thing we all have in common is time.
What you are and what you become depends on how you use your time. The billionaire and the beggar have the same 24 hour day. The old and the young, black and white all have the same amount of time every day. Time has no respect for you but you can control how you use it.
What you do with it determines who you become. Can you honestly say you used last year effectively? I look at much of this last year and see the time I used wisely and the time I wasted time.
Time is life. With each passing year, you are measuring time. In our culture, a year is the advancement of time. The opportunity to redefine priorities and purpose is found in the celebration of a new year. A new year is an opportunity to redefine your life vision, evaluate your direction, and adjust your course. A new year is a time to reestablish worthwhile goals. A new year is an opportunity to bury the past and move into the future.
I love New Year's day because that means there is an old one somewhere. Time is a blessing or a curse depending on how you manage it. Time is life. If I ask you how old you are, I am asking about your lifeline. You would say my life is 30 years old or 80 years old. We define life by time.
Life is measured by time because life is determined by what we do with time. Life is qualified by time. Life is also the passing of time. What you become is totally dependent on time. Life is also determined by time and it is stopped by time. When you die you move out of time into what they call eternity. In essence, death is life leaving time.
Time is temporary but life is eternal. Many think time is our enemy, but we have to learn to make time our friend.
"I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
Beautiful in this context means mature. God matures everything in its time. There is a time for maturity. God created time but doesn’t live in it. God created time to give a piece of eternity a measure.
"Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly." Ecclesiastes 8:6
There is a proper way and time to do everything. Time is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, and days. Time measures life. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Here is the good news. Whatever you have been through you can now say is in the past. I lost my house last year. I was broke last week. Whatever happens in the past separates you from the future? Time measures life in the past, present, and future. I used to be sick. I used to be . . . Time protects us from living in a permanent position.
Time is the only commodity on earth given equally. We don’t possess the same amount of money but we possess the same amount of time. What you become in life is determined by the way you spend your time. That is why we use terms like spending time. Time is currency.
Let’s redeem the time. Deem means to own something. To redeem means to own it again. Redeeming time is to "own again" time you spent. Spend the next year making up for what was lost. That might mean staying a little later or shutting down some things. To redeem means you can not have a normal life anymore. You have some lost time that needs to be made up for. It means you may have to throw off some things that are nice and pleasurable to do some things that are important To redeem time might best be described as converting time into value.
Redeeming Time:
1. Document a plan.
2. Establish priorities based on that plan.
3. Purpose your passion only. (Identify your passion and go after it. Stay with your passion. Not every opportunity is a blessing. The devil's greatest weapon is a distraction. He distracts you to do things you aren’t supposed to be doing. Not everything good is right.)
4. Protect your plans and priorities. (You will be attacked by so many opportunities. Stay on course with your assignment.)
5. Identify your value.
6. Make decisions based on your destiny. (If you know where you want to go, design your decisions accordingly.)
7. Inventory your associations. (How many are taking you to your vision?)
8. Review your investments. (How do you invest your time? Do an inventory.)
9. Do not try to please everybody. (You cannot make everybody happy. You have to redeem your time by reviewing who are you trying to please. Jesus said he lived to please the Father. Who are you trying to please?)
10. Forget the past to pursue and design the future. (Design it! Become an architect of life. Design your year or you will live a year planned by the demand of others.)