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It is important that we always have our priorities in check so that we
don't waste the precious time that we have on this Earth doing things that
really have no significance or importance where our life is concerned. We
should be conscious to the brevity of time and do our best to use it to
our benefit. We should invest our time in our loved ones above all else
because the time that is spent with them will be remembered and cherished
more than we can ever know. We should never allow ourselves to get
sidetracked on selfish endeavors that really have no point or significance
because once those hours, days and months are spent, they could never come
back to us again.
If we think of an hourglass that shows the sand that symbolizes time
passing through its vessel, we can begin to understand how once time
passes by, it can't be regained again. We can't rewind time and do the
things that we wish we would have done before. We must be cognizant to
use time to our benefit so that we won't have regrets when we think back
over our life. Instead of allowing regret and remorse to infiltrate our
being for not doing the right things, let us be mindful of how short,
precious and unpredictable our time really is. Let us show our loved ones
how much they mean to us and spend our time together. All other
distractions that have no importance or relevance should be put away and
only those things that will have an eternal effect should be focused on
and invested in.
Let this message be a simple reminder to reevaluate how you are spending
your time. Are you doing things with your time that are important? Are
you investing wisely in the lives of those who mean the most to you? If
you were told that you only had a short time left to live, would you be
proud of the time that you have spent or would you be regretful? Answering
these simple questions helps us to see if we are doing all that we need to
do to make time work for us. I've never heard of anyone on their death
bed wishing that they had spent more time at work, but I'm sure those with
regrets wish they had spent more time with those who meant the world to
them. Let us not have those regrets, but let us do all that we need to do
so that we can be proud of how we used our time.
I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to not waste the
precious time that God has given to you, but use it to your benefit every
minute, every hour and every day.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
A young ensign had nearly completed his first overseas tour of duty when
he was given the opportunity to prepare his ship to “Set Sail.” With a
stream of crisp commands, he had the decks buzzing with sailors and soon
the ship churned slowly out of the channel.
The ensign's efficiency was remarkable. In fact, the talk was that he had
set a new record for getting the ship underway.
But his captain was not as pleased. A message delivered to the young
officer read, “My personal congratulations upon completing your underway
preparation exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. But
next time, you might wait until your captain is aboard before setting off.”
What good is a ship without the captain? The ensign did all the right
things, but he never did the most important thing.
It is a matter of priorities. I know that I may accomplish a great deal
every day. I may do the right things, but am I doing the best things? To
borrow language from author Stephen Covey, do I put first things first?
I can relate to the man who believes he spends too much of his time in
meetings. “I have this recurring nightmare," he says. "My wife and
children are gathered at the cemetery for my funeral. After the service,
the funeral director approaches my weeping family and hands them a box
containing all my earthly possessions. In the box are 35 years of my
annual calendars and diaries. I read over their shoulders as they scan the
appointment notes that kept me busy for so many years. It occurs to me how
seldom anything of significance was ever accomplished at those gatherings.
I turn to look at my tombstone. The epitaph reads, 'Daddy has gone to
another meeting.'”
That man could be me. I need to regularly ask myself, "In my most
significant relationships, in my work and in my free time, in all areas of
my life, am I doing what is truly important?” Important to me? I do the
mundane. I do the urgent and the pressing. But do I spend enough time with
what is actually significant?
I once made this demonstration to an audience. I filled a large, clear jar
with coffee beans almost to the top. The beans, I said, represent all of
the activities we accomplish in a day. Then I produced two golf balls.
“These,” I said, “represent a couple of the truly important things in our
lives.” I asked them to think of the golf balls as time spent with a
significant person, such as a family member, or doing something special
for somebody else, or developing their spiritual life or just beginning
that project they keep putting off. I placed the balls on top of the beans
then tried to screw on the lid. I couldn't do it. There were too many
beans in the jar.
“Does this remind you of a typical day?” I asked. “We're so busy doing the
usual we can't seem to squeeze in anything else.”
I emptied the jar and started over. "But what if we put first things
first? What if we start each day doing something special, something we
truly WANT to do? I placed the golf balls into the jar first. Then I poured
in the coffee beans - all of them. They fell neatly around the balls and
filled the jar to the top. When I screwed on the lid it fit perfectly.
And that's the secret to building the kind of life you want. I've
discovered that if I can begin every day with one or two things that are
important to me, the other stuff still fits into place just fine.
I don't want to just do all of the RIGHT things and never get around to
the BEST things. And I certainly don't want my life summed up in the
sentence, “Daddy has gone to another meeting.” So I handle the golf balls
first. And in comparison, everything else is just beans.
By Steve Goodier
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Matthew 25:37-40 Jesus declares “Then shall the righteous answer Him,
saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and
gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked,
and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye
have done it unto Me.”
Galatians 6:1-4 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are
spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own
work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth
us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are
in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of
God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ.”
1 John 4:10-12 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is
perfected in us.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: GOD WON'T ASK
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem38.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: RESCUED FROM DEPRESSION
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony37.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
