We live in a busy and demanding society… Build Shelf Visit Hospital Sketch-up Model Sleep Time With Wife Vacation Plans Turn in Books Time to Study We live in a busy and demanding society… Exercise Water Backyard Call Mom & Dad Pray Pay the Bills Work TV Show Oil Change Clean Garage Read With Kids

Only 24 Hours…

Average Work Day, Employed Persons Ages 25 to 54 With Children A Current Look Average Work Day, Employed Persons Ages 25 to 54 With Children Caring for Others (1.2 hours) Eating & Drinking (1.1 hours) Other (1.6 hours) Sleeping (7.7 hours) Household Activities (1.0 hours) Leisure/Sports (2.6 hours) Working (8.8 hours) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

Time for Study or Prayer? Average Work Day, Employed Persons Ages 25 to 54 With Children ATUS asks about time spent in religious or spiritual activities Average time spent in religious or spiritual activities in 2013 was 0.14 hours/day (8.4 min) Only 9% of respondents spent any time in religious or spiritual activities 91% of all survey participants spent a total of 0.0 min engaged in religious or spiritual activities Caring for Others (1.2 hours) Eating (1.1 hours) Other (1.6 hours) Sleeping (7.7 hours) Housework (1.0 hours) Leisure (2.6 hours) Work (8.8 hours) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

Eccl. 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.

What should my pie chart look like?

Eating, Drinking, Making Merry How Should It Look? 1 Thes. 5:17 Luke 12:16-21 Prayer (24.0 hours) Barn Building (8.0 hours) Sleeping (8.0 hours) Ease Taking (3.0 hours) Eating, Drinking, Making Merry (5.0 hours) Our pie somewhere in between? Time spent selfishly is foolish Time must be spent developing a closer relationship to God while attending to everything else!

Why do we struggle to manage our time?

Root Causes Allow a short-sighted, temporal, possibly selfish view to set priorities Rich Fool Lk. 12 Martha Lk. 10 Wrong Priorities Take on too much Work, school, serving others, etc… Moses Ex. 18 Over Commit Circumstances change unexpectedly Struggle to keep up Circumstances Regardless of cause, a biblical view of time can help us do better with our time.

Time is Finite Psalm 90:10-12 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. James 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Psalm 39:4-5 "Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.

What if I lived each day as if it were my last?

My Time? Your Time? God’s Time? James 4:15 …"If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” The Example of Jesus John 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, "There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

What if I viewed each day as a blessing from God?

Redeeming the Time Buy up the time! Ephesians 5:15-16 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Buy up the time! Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

What if I determine to make the most of each day?

No Specifics, Just Basics Caring for Others (1.2 hours) Other (1.6 hours) Eating & Drinking (1.1 hours) Sleeping (7.7 hours) Household Activities (1.0 hours) Leisure/Sports (2.6 hours) Working (8.8 hours)

…Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all …Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.