Stewardship
Of Time
Elder
O. B. Mink
Pastor
- Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
Texarkana,
Texas
"Redeeming
the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:16)
We poor mortals are slaves of time, there is hardly a thing we do that
is not governed by time. The clock sends us to bed, and the clock wakes
us up. The clock sends us to work, and the work day is closed by the clock.
So, in his earthly stay man is bound by time, time ushered in his birth,
and time will carry him through the portals of death. "There is a time
to be born, and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes 3:2). However, there
is a sense in which time is the servant of man, and of this particular
aspect of time, man should ever be aware, for his state (not place) in
eternity is determined by the way he utilizes the time granted him on earth.
Time is sacred and the scriptures lay great stress upon the urgent and
wise use of it. Never was there, nor shall there ever be any time to kill.
There is from the Divine perspective no such thing as unused or neutral
time, man is, every moment of his existence. either for or against God.
(Matthew 12:30). Knowing our days are few, and that we are as the
grass which withereth, let us join our prayer to that of the Psalmist,
"Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
In so doing, we shall redeem the time (Job 14:1, Psalms 90:12,1 Peter
1:24).
Time in itself is not evil, but good. It is the negative use of time that
is evil. The fruit Eve partook of was not evil, but good, her misuse of
it was evil. When time is used to gratify the flesh, that time is ill spent
and can never be redeemed. Knowing in some measure the power of selfishness,
it behooves the disciple of Christ to marshall all the forces of good at
his disposal, and deploy them so as to preserve the sanctity of his time.
The natural man spends every waking moment fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and the mind, and never stops to think that he shall give an account
unto God for every idle word spoken and every misspent moment (Matthew
12:36, Job 7:18). Moses chose rather to redeem the time than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25). And Job tells
us that the sin season is short, "The triumphing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment" (Job 20:5).
While the stewardship of time is an awe some responsibility, it should
not serve to create in us a frenzied zeal. Such zeal is the mother of disorderliness,
and would be a hindrance rather than a help in the proper use of our time.
Redeeming the time does not mean that we are to forfeit all physical rest
and recreation, but what it does mean is, whether we eat, drink, pray,
or play, we are to do all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31).Thieves
Of Time
Someone has said, "Procrastination is the thief of time." It is without
doubt that a lot of time is lost due to procrastination, but procrastination
is not the only culprit where by time is lost. Laziness, carelessness,
sensuousness are all thieves of time, and are more subtle and hurtful than
procrastination. Sensuousness is not necessarily that which is manifestly
sinful, surely those things are sensuous, but any and all things done in
obedience to our fallen nature is sensual. It is a joy to get company,
especially family whom you have not seen for awhile. On the other hand,
considering the eternal perspective, it is readily seen that no company,
be they ever so precious is worth getting who will take time from you which
you owe to God. He Who purchased the church with His own blood, and grants
man his every minute, has said to those baptized into His church, forsake
not the assembly (Hebrews 10:25). Yet, the supposed excuse for absence,
"I got company", seems never to wear thin. One day, that seemingly genuine
excuse will regretfully be seen under the heading, I WISH I HAD NEVER SAID
THAT.
The time spent at an old fashion family picnic is evil if it keeps a person
from discharging his duty to God. What shall we then say of television,
theater, carnal literature, and the like? All of these are unmasked and
announced thieves of time, and to allow these things to steal from us time
which we owe God, is equal to leaving the burglars the key to our home
while we are away. There are one hundred and sixty eight hours in a week,
and if a person attended all the regular services of his church he would
spend approximately five hours per week in the house of God. Apart from
providential leave it is the christian's duty to be in every service of
his church, and we need to keep in mind that God knows the difference between
His providence and our perfidy. It is the member who attends consistently
that realizes, he is yet an unprofitable servant, for he knows he has done
no more than that which was his duty to do (Luke 17:10). He also
knows, if he fails in this part of his duty, he will be less likely to
succeed in any other.
The christian may become careless in punctuality, and form a habit of tardiness.
Such a habit is never more malicious, nor the person more guilty of time
stealing than when repeatedly late for church service. There are occasions
when Divine providence hinders, resulting in late arrival, but let us not
compound guilt by blaming God for human dilatoriness. It is the general
rule that when a person is late for church services he adversely diverts
the attention of at least a few people in the assembly for a few minutes.
Ascertain the number of people distracted by the late comer, multiply that
number by the number of minutes their attention was interrupted, and the
total will be the measure of time stolen from them by the unthinking and
careless person. The aggravation is furthered, for the usual thing is,
the speaker is momentarily distracted by the tardy person, which results
in the whole assembly suffering an undue loss of time. The tardy person
has unlawfully and permanently taken away part of the most important commodity
God has given to man, time. The eternal law says, 'Thou shall not steal."
And this law applies to time as well as money. The habitual time thief
knows there is no human court to which he is amenable for his theft, so
all corrective admonitions fall on deaf ears, and he merrily continues
his repulsive habit. However, there is a court to which he has been summoned,
and in which appearance he will not be one second late. In that court he
will be caused to see his abuse of time, and the harm he did to others
by it. "So then everyone of us shall give an account of himself unto God"
(Romans 14:12). Now
Is The Accepted Time
Serving God is not for spare time, when there is nothing else to do. With
God there is no "Spare time", and the faithful know God has not given
them one minute to consume upon the flesh. They know that their King's
business is urgent, and that His program allows for no delays.
Man's economic philosophy is, "Time is money. But let us remember man's
philosophy and God's determinations are often contrary the one to the other.
The King of time and the Lord of life has not said "Time is money", neither
has He said, "I will wait for your service until you become affluent."
But the omniscient economist has said, "Go to now, ye that say, Today or
tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy
and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the
morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for
a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:13, 14).
God has not said, I will wait until you establish a career, or reach middle
life, or retire, and then you may serve Me. But He has said, 'Remember
the Lord Thy Creator in the days
of
thy youth, while the evil days (age and sickness) come not..." (Ecclesiastes
12:l); And He has said, "Look on the fields, for they are white already
to harvest: (John 4:35). There is no time like the present, and
"now" is all the time we can be sure of. Thus, the urgency is constant,
for the time of our departure from this fleeting life is always at hand
(John 7:6). God demands and deserves the preeminence in all things,
and except He have it in our dispensing of time, then He has it in nothing
else in our life. The sum of what a person is when they face God is the
result of the way in which they spent their time in this life. Seeing then
that our sojourn here is so very brief, let us not waste a minute of it,
but utilize it in such a manner so as when our days reach their end we
can say with Paul, that tireless and busy apostle, 'I am now ready to be
offered" (II Timothy 4:6). Christ said to His church, "Ye shall
by My witnesses" (Acts 1:8). He did not say, I expect you to be
My witnesses, nor did He say, I hope you will be My witnesses. He said,
"Ye shall be My witnesses." Once a person is saved he mounts the witness
stand where his life's testimony is judged by the world. He may be a good
witness or a bad witness, but he is a .witness all the time. When he squanders
time, he steals from God, from others to whom he owes a better witness,
and he robs himself of precious time and opportunities he can never redeem.
How is it with your life's time card? When God asks you about this day,
and He surely will, where will it appear, on the credit or debit side of
the eternal page? May God grant us the strength to "Walk in wisdom toward
them that are without, redeeming the time" (Colossians 4:5), for
"It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (I Corinthians
4:2). God's all sufficient grace has supplied the believer with every
means necessary to enhance his life, and all these means come to us in
the vehicle called time. Let us pray for Divine enablement so as to guide
our particular vehicle in being about our
heavenly Father's business.
(Sovereign
Grace Advocate - June, 1981)
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