{"id":582,"date":"2016-07-31T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-31T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=582"},"modified":"2016-08-01T10:16:26","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T15:16:26","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-time-robbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hanoverbaptistchurch.dreamhosters.com\/blogpastor\/2016\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-time-robbers\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about time robbers?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cShow me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.\u201d Psalm\u00a025:4-5<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have long held a fascination for wind-up clocks, watches and sundials. Several years back I came across a cast iron sundial in a secondhand store. The sundial was in the shape of a bowl, to function as a bird bath, and had a tall sailboat in the middle whose mast came to a sharp point which functioned as the stylus to point out the hour. Around the outside of the bowl was a border with the Roman numerals signifying the daylight hours and in large letters the Latin phrase tempus fugit, time flies. I bought the sundial and painted it up with bright colors, put it at our family\u2019s vacation place, and every time I see it I realize how true to life it increasingly is.<\/p>\n

Time truly does fly. Psalm\u00a090:9f matter-of-factly states, \u201cWe finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.\u201d Just the chapter before the psalmist says, \u201cRemember how short our time is\u2026\u201d (89:47). Time is the one commodity that is unalterably limited on this earth for all of us. Psalm\u00a090:12 says, \u201cSo teach us to number our days [rightly] that we may gain a heart of wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Christian study of time management is not quite the same as time management viewed through an employer\u2019s lens. Business time management seeks to streamline use of time within the confines of a set work week, under the constraints of business pressure, and by quantifiable goals designed to easily measure short-term achievement and success. The stewardship of the Christian life is a bit harder to measure since most spiritual goals are only met as God interjects His power and blessing. While there are short term goals in the Christian life, like reading through the Bible in a year or witnessing to at least one person a week, many of the most significant goals are a lifetime in achieving.<\/p>\n

While short-term goals are certainly a valid part of prosecuting faithful Christianity, long-term goals tend to fit the challenge the Lord gives us in the stewardship of life. Our Lord\u2019s own words in the parable of the ten pounds, found in Luke\u00a019:13, illustrate this: \u201cSo he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas [each amounting to three month\u2019s salary], and said to them, \u2018Do business till I come.\u2019\u201d The various crowns God gives to faithful Christians serves to illustrate the significance of lifelong stewardship, the crown for those who love His appearing (2\u00a0Timothy\u00a04:8), the imperishable crown (1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a09:25), the crown of life (James\u00a01:12), the crown of glory (1\u00a0Peter\u00a05:4), and even the crown of rejoicing or the soul-winners crown (1\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a02:19).<\/p>\n

The Christian life is more of a marathon than a sprint. The truth of this illustration is that Christians must view life\u2019s \u201ctime robbers\u201d in a different light than found in the work-a-day world. We all know what Ecclesiastes 3 teaches: \u201cTo everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted\u2026.\u201d We know the truth of Psalm\u00a032:6, \u201cFor this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found.\u201d And we all know the truth of Psalm\u00a031:15, \u201cMy times are in Your hand\u2026.\u201d The older we chronologically are, the more acute is our sense of the shortness of a day; and yet we must never lose sight of the eternal scale of the significance of our life\u2019s stewardship.<\/p>\n

Waiting upon God, prayer, worship, meditation, expending long hours in caring for a loved one, seeing no \u201cfruit\u201d of our efforts, waiting for a loved one for whatever reason, enduring spiritual immaturity among the saints, or any number of things, are thought useless by a lost world\u2014but are never considered time-wasters by God. In fact, He is often the organizer of these \u201cappointments\u201d for you. To be certain, there are some people who would be glad to waste your time and rob you, but be sure to adjudge the situation under God\u2019s agenda rather than yours.<\/p>\n

Guard against these time robbers:<\/p>\n