Today’s piece covers the chapter The Bible’s Twin Texts on Time. These two references are:

Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. KJV

Ephesians 5:15-16

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. NIV

In essence, we are looking to apply wisdom to how we use our time.

One of the many tragic aspects about wisdom is that sometimes it only comes through failure. Our parents tell us some things over and over as we grow up, but we have no experience base on which to apply the concept, and we tumble through an opportunity only to recognize it after the fact. “Oh, so that’s what dad meant by…” It often seems we fail to apply wisdom to the use of our time.

Hypothetical thought: “I have a meeting at nine, I plan to be at the meeting at nine. I have two meetings at nine? How did that happen? Which one do I go to? You mean this meeting was at nine pm? I guess I should have gone to the other meeting. Or you mean this meeting is for people who have not completed the forms? I guess I should have gone to the other meeting.”

The book carries the following passage:

Wisely manage our life’s agendas and our daily schedules.

We must first set an agenda. Many people set agendas such as I want to travel to all fifty states, or I want three kids, or I want to be rich. But the agenda the author is reaching for is much more subtle and much more difficult. He wants us to be fully developed Christians.

My favorite sport it baseball and one of the huge differences between it and other sports is that you don’t show up knowing how to throw four pitches anywhere you want around the strike zone with the same arm movement nor can you recognize pitches enough to be a great hitter with no experience. Baseball over comes this skill issue with the concept of Player Development. Teams draft kids out of high school and take years to develop their skill set in order to be successful at the major league level. They teach kids to recognize data and make decisions and take action in the tiniest possible portions of seconds. 

Being a fully mature Christian is no different. One has to set it out as a goal and then spend time learning and practicing all the commands and promises in the Bible and how to apply them. And everyone has a different starting point, a different path, and a different end point along their paths. Each of us must discern the big picture that guides our actions.

We must also plan each day and have a schedule or at least if we want to be efficient or effective. The term that I wanted to talk about with this topic may not seem to apply, but it is customer service. Many of us are great at giving our customer what they want in business. It is the bedrock of repeat business and companies or individuals who get this right can be very successful. Being an effective or efficient Christian may be helped by applying this concept of customer service to how we see others around us or how we see a component of our relationship with God. God does not pay us directly as our vocations do, but if we deliver the services He requests, He will be glorified, and we will be pleasing our “customer”. We can service others around us as customers needing to know about God or to be served on His behalf and strive to meet there expectations as much as we would of our boss at work.

The book tells the story of a man saved from meeting a traveler who “preached Jesus” to him for no more than five minutes. Five minutes. Let that sink it. We do not have to wait until we know someone well to reach them. We do not have to preach to them. We can just share who Jesus is to us and let the Holy Spirit take it from there.

So, make an agenda, work to become someone who can share their story about Christ in five minutes, and then schedule tasks that let you do that. Or pick something else, play guitar at youth group function at church or play the piano during service, or whatever God is calling you to do, but be wise, be careful how you use your days, and make use of every opportunity.