Psalm 90, we are told, is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. And among the requests that Moses made of the Lord, he asked God to teach him how to manage his time. (READ TEXT)
Time is a great leveler. It doesn’t matter if we are wealthy or poor, educated or uneducated, a manager or a laborer, male or female, popular or unpopular; we all have only one life to live. Since this is so, we should want to make the most of the time we have.
“Time is life, nothing more, nothing less. The way you spend your hours and your days is the way you spend your life.” - John Boykin, The Gospel Of Coincidence
How can we live in such a way that we -invest our time wisely rather than spend our time wastefully? In Moses’ request, we are told of two ingredients that will give us the focus we need to make the most of the time we have.
1. A sense of perspective concerning the brevity of life - v. 12a
Moses rightly observes that our days are numbered! We don’t have an indefinite number of days in which to live.
“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” - James 4:14b (NIV)
Now, perhaps the swiftness with which time passes has already occurred to you. No doubt, you may have come to, this realization as a result of noticing that there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to do all you want to do or feel you ought to do.
I understand that the Chinese once sought to deal with the common problem of not having enough time by having, at one point in their history, a calendar with 15 day weeks!
The fact is that no matter what we do, we can’t change the reality that time passes. Life is commonly described in one of four ways: as a journey, as a battle, as a pilgrimage, and as a race.
Whatever the metaphor, there is one thing on which we must all agree:
If life is Journey, it must be completed.
If life is a battle, it must be finished.
If life is a pilgrimage, it must be concluded.
If life is a race, it must be won.
Each of our lives will, one day, come to an end. Since this is so, we need to make the kind of decisions in the time we have, which will result in our getting where we want to be when we reach the end!
Having a sense of perspective concerning the time we have in this life, leads us to make sure the second ingredient is found in our life as well.
2. A sense of priority concerning the decisions of life - v. 12b
“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve
wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. Success depends upon using it WISELY.” - Denis Waitley, The Joy Of Working
“Nine-tenths of wisdom consists of being wise in the scheduling of our time.” - Teddy Roosevelt
I understand that once in Great Britain there developed a problem with their public transportation where empty buses driving by bus stops full of people. After an investigation was conducted, it was discovered that the bus drivers felt that they needed to pass up the crowded bus stops so that they might stay on schedule.
Too many people are like that. Because they lack a sense of priority in life, they by pass the important things in life as they tend to those things which seem to be the most urgent. You see, the urgent must not be confused with the important! Many people are spending their lives wastefully because they are seeing only to the urgent things in life, while bypassing those things which are really important.
How can I determine what things are really important in life, and thus, develop a healthy sense of priority? I need to see to those things in the present which will enable me to . . .
A. Not regret the past.
“The time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
- 2 Timothy 4:6b-7 (NIV)
I need to do those things today, which will make sure I will have no regrets tomorrow.
“Life may be short, but it gives most people time to outlive their good intentions.” - Anonymous
What things do you know you ought to do that you have been putting off? If you persist in doing so, one day you’ll find yourself looking back on your life regretting the fact that you didn’t do what you knew you should when you had the opportunity to do it.
B. Be ready for the future.
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” - Proverbs 6:6-11 (NIV)
To many people are like the sluggard addressed by Solomon in this Proverb. Rather than actively seeking to make sure they are ready for the future, they are passively waiting to see what will happen!
Psychologist William Marston asked 5,000 people, “What do you have to live for?” 94% said they were merely enduring the present, hoping for something better to come along.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring - what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.” - James 4:13-17 (HCSB)
This passage is not a condemnation of those who plan; but of those who plod! It is addressing those who are all talk and no walk! This is speaking of the person who doesn’t do today, what will benefit them tomorrow.
“The nicest thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” - Anonymous
Do those things today which will leave you with no regrets over the past and make sure you are ready for the future! What do you need to do today to make the most of the time that is yours? God is speaking to you and He stands ready to answer Moses’ prayer request in your life today. Don’t ignore your need to set things right!
In September 1991, the ruling government of the Soviet Union admitted something they had denied for 60 years! During the Stalin era, officials forgot to set the national clocks back one hour when they came off daylight savings time. They forgot to “fall back.” They were so embarrassed that they stayed on the wrong time and denies the whole thing for 60 years!
Don’t make the same mistake as the Soviet Union, who could not admit to a mistake. Admit your mistakes, learn from them, and takes steps to change things. No matter what mistakes you’ve made in the
management of your life, when it comes to turning things around, there’s no time like the present!
“No one can go back to their beginning in life and make a brand new start, but they can go from where they are
and make a brand new end!”
Won’t you choose to do those things today which will make sure you will be ready for the future and have no regrets about your past?
Listen to the voice of God as He speaks to you. He is seeking to answer the request of Moses in you life, if you will let Him. Do what He is telling you to do today.
“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2b (NIV)
