T1: Time

The Rev. Thomas W. Simmons IV

Let’s talk about your time.  It is one of the scarcest resources you have and it just keeps trickling away.  The older we get the faster it flows past.  So how are you managing this precious, un-renewable resource? How do you serve God in your use of time?

Every minute we have is a gift from God and each one moves with rhythms of the world.  The sun rises and sets giving us day and night for work and rest.  The week’s seven days begin on Sunday with worship and recreation to prepare us for the labor of the days to come.  The seasons change for planting and traveling, harvesting and hibernating. 

These rhythms of life are reflected in the liturgical cycles of the church and the Christian devotional life at home, with times of prayer and meditation in the morning and at night.  Good stewardship of time means bringing our lives in harmony with these rhythms.

Unfortunately, our lives are more often dominated by the tempo of the commute, the ten-hour work day, the quarterly report, the fiscal year, the soccer season.  In all the hubbub our lives become disharmonious.  Good stewardship means stepping back, making silence and re-synchronizing our selves, our souls and bodies with the rhythms of God’s world.

We also need balance.  Most of us gladly spend lots of money to “save time” and we ruthlessly manage our commitments and schedules to “make time” for the things that are important to us. Stewardship of time means God calls us to “invest time” in the things that matter. 

What are those things for you? I know of several key areas: your family, recreation and rest, worship, labor, service to others, personal growth and learning, personal interests or passions.  God calls us to invest our time in all of these areas and good stewardship of time means finding a balance between them all.  

Unfortunately, our lives are more often dominated by one or two of these to the exclusion of the rest.  What are you too busy with? Is it your work? Does your commitment to your job (and the necessary commute) leave you little time left over for rest and recreation, for your family, or for worship and service to others? 

It is a huge problem in our area and something that requires serious attention.  The demands of work can be uncompromising. Nevertheless, God calls us to balance as we manage the time he gives us. And just remember, when Jesus called his disciples he called them away from their work to follow him.  Just think of St. Peter dropping those nets.  We all have to do the same in one way or another if we are to follow Jesus.