Using your time wisely

Jonathan Edwards once wrote in his diary, "Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can." Edwards is considered one of America's  leading theologians. He was a pastor whose preaching led to the Great Awakening, a prolific author, and for a brief period the president of what would later be Princeton University. One could say he made good use of every moment of his life.

As I look back over my life I realize I can't always say that. There have been many wasted hours doing things that were not profitable. Most of us could say the same thing. We get caught up in trivial matters, chasing the latest fads and pursuing things of limited value. We forget how quickly time marches on until we notice that much of our lives are behind us and we haven't done the things we most wanted to do with our lives.

Scripture teaches us to redeem the time, to make the best use of every possible minute. It's easy to say that we'll get to it tomorrow only for tomorrow to never come. We are to live in the moment, As one former colleague said to me, "The most important place I am is where I am today, and the most important person I can be with is the person I'm with right now." He refused to feel rushed to run to and fro but lived in each moment making the best use of that time right then.

Please don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean we have to spend every moment working. Making the best use of our time includes sitting on the deck with your spouse enjoying a cup of coffee and spending time with one another. It includes taking an afternoon to play golf with your friends. It includes taking a walk through a park or garden. It includes making time for self-care. When I had a motorcycle I would sometimes take a two-hour ride because I just needed the air.

I wonder how many are using their time wisely during this pandemic when many of us are asked to stay at home. Are we binge-watching Netflix or doing those things that we've been wanting to do for a long time? Right now, many of us have plenty of time to complete some tasks we've been putting off. Are we glued to the TV listening to people telling us how bad things are, or are we spending extra time in the Word of God learning more about God's will for our lives?

Are we taking a moment to send an encouraging email or text (or even going old-school and sending a card) to someone just to let them know we are thinking about them? One pastor said he divided his congregation into a prayer list so he could pray for each one individually. When he completed his time of prayer he would send a note to those he had prayed for that day to let them know he had prayed for them.

Are we spending time growing in our walk with God, maybe digging deeper into His Word to determine what a particular passage might be saying to us? Are we taking time to think about what the church may look like post-pandemic?

If we do even some of these things, this pandemic shutdown may prove to be profitable for us. We have this time available; use it wisely.