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Finding Time

Many Christians say they don’t pray or read their Bible because they don’t have the time. Maybe there is something else they know they should do—like volunteering—that they can’t find the time for. 

 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could find more time? Time isn’t a needle hiding in a haystack though; it is staring us right in the face every time we look at a clock. Like most people, I wish there were more hours in a day, but we have to learn to work with the 24 hours we have been given.

 

In the 1979 book The Mighty Micro, a prediction was made that by the year 2000, people would enjoy a 20-hour work week, and retire by age 50. Thanks to advances in technology there just wouldn’t be that much actual work to do. We are almost a quarter of a century past the year 2000, and people seem busier than ever. 

 

There are so many things vying for our time, fighting to get their hands on some of our 24 hours, that if we do not prioritize, we will find our time has been stolen away by things that don’t deserve it. We become overextended, so we begin to make cuts to our time budget. The truth is, the things we cut are the things we decided were not important enough to get part of our day. 

 

In their book Strengthening Your Marriage, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott wrote, “To make more quality time you have to give up time you are now giving to secondary causes. It's that simple. And that difficult. It's a sacrifice. But that's what priorities are all about—sacrificing something else you might enjoy for the greater good[1].”

 

Their comment was in the context of spending time with your spouse, but the principle can be broader in its application. The person who is too busy to read the Bible should keep track of their social media usage. The one who can’t find time to pray should pay attention to how much time they invest in watching TV. What we spend our time on reflects our priorities. If growing closer to God is a priority, you will find the time. 

 

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

Ephesians 5:15-16


[1] Parrott, Les and Leslie, Strengthening Your Marriage, p.168 

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