137,333 Hours

When we think of our lives on earth, it can seem like a long time. Colossians tells us to redeem the time. But, it's easy to put things off because it seems as if we'll always have time. Now, think about this:

If we live 65 years, we have about 600,000 hours at our disposal. Assuming we're 18 when we complete high school, we have 47 years, or nearly 412,000 hours, to live after graduation.

If we spend 8 hours a day sleeping, 8 hours for personal, social, and recreational activities, and 8 hours for working, that amounts to 137,333 hours in each category. When we think of the time we have to work and play in terms of hours, it doesn't seem like much. And when seen in the light of eternity, it's just a fleeting moment.

When it comes down to it, our lives really are but a vapor, a wisp of smoke. Then, when you consider many of the so-called "important" and "urgent" things in this life that try to steal our time... Looking at life this way, how much more important it becomes to use our time wisely.

oscuridad said:

interesting, but what's your point?

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The point was stated in the first paragraph

Simple Living said:

Colossians tells us to redeem the time. But, it's easy to put things off because it seems as if we'll always have time. Now, think about this:

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Not to just read the post as trivia, but to actually think about it. Break it down to a single day, if that's easier or more helpful. From the 24 hours we're all given, subtract the time we spend sleeping and working. Subtract your showering, commute time and eating and how much time is left?

The point was meant as an encouragement for people to examine their lives and see what it is they're doing with their time. Is it being filled with random, unconscious things that happen along and fill our time, like errands and busyness? Watching too much TV? Now, compare those things with the parts of our day in which we're making conscious decisions that effect our inner man, the kingdom of God, and eternity. Are we making the best decisions for the use of our time?

For example, if you commute 20 minutes to work, do you use that time to pray or worship? If you were car-pooling with your best friend, could you imagine spending 20 minutes in the same car without saying a word to each other? Maybe using that 20 minutes for prayer or worship would be part of your "redeeming the time" as it's commanded in Colossians.

Again, my post was intended to get people to think about how they're spending their time, the little bit of time they have, aside from all the need-to-dos and must-be-dones.

It's good to take stock and examine our lives like this periodically. New Year's Eve seems to be a traditional time to do this.

oscuridad said:

I get the point, but the difficulty, as with all philosophical niceties, is that the real world still intrudes. The trash has to be taken out, the bills paid, the work done. I agree it steals our precious time. That's one of the reasons I want to be a writer - to stop these SOBs stealing my time.

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I love that you brought this up. It's a passion of mine to shine a light on these things because you're right, they can steal our time. After all, they have to be done and can't be avoided. I'm not trying to say that we should avoid these things, because we can't.

I believe Satan uses these types of things as a trap, to distract us, from the other things we should be concentrating on. Look at the world of advertising -- "You deserve the best! Make your life easier! Buying this product will save you time!" Not only is this "Me! Me! Me!" focused, it's deceptive. It not only puts people deeper in debt but what do folks do with the time they save? They spend it on more busyness for errands and work, etc., It's not spent on family, God, or rest.

As Christians, we have to remember that we're not of this world. We're just in it for a time. Yes, we have to live in it right now, but not let it control our actions, behaviors, thoughts and habits. If we're aware of these traps (time stealers) we're more apt to make sure we're making the best decisions possible.

Americans (I've lived all over the world) work very hard. The "American Dream," corporate America, media, etc., all encourage it. As a result, people who aren't careful and making conscious choices are going into debt and becoming slaves to money and work. We are all where we are right now because of the choices we've made.

The good news is that God is greater than our circumstances and can bring glory to Himself if we'll allow Him to take control of them.

One of the ways we can do that, surrendering control, is by making wise choices with how we spend our time. Are we planning our relationship with God (prayer, time in the Word, etc.,) around our schedules or do we plan our schedules around our relationship with God?

This is it. The choices we make now aren't insignificant and menial. They not only affect where we'll spend eternity, but how. I'm not talking about being perfect, but we can fight the complacency of just taking things as they come along and take charge of making wise choices. We're going to be held responsible for them.

oscuridad said:

I think there are two largely unrelated elements here - can you tease them apart a bit?

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I did write that post rather quickly. I was running late for a meeting.

I think both items are related. I just took a rabbit trail on the secondary point. Sorry about that.

Our days on earth are finite and we never know when that countdown will end. Thus, time is precious and wisdom says to spend it wisely. There are several scriptures that advise/warn us of this.

Great sentiment? Sure. That's how far too many people tend to take such statements because many people are what I call "surface thinkers." They hear something and their first, immediate understanding of it is what they run with. "That's true," they say and then they're off on their next random thought. Just hearing it is enough for them, but there's no self-examination. It's pacifying and complacent. (Being that this forum consists of writers, there are a lot of exceptions here to the "surface thinkers" theory. Writers investigate and examine.)

Acting on it is more difficult. It requires self-examination, (ouch) which is something most people today avoid. They say, "I'm okay," then turn on the TV or the stereo or the computer and avoid the uncomfortable silence that causes us to reflect and examine our inner lives. We don't like that mirror.

Satan uses man's own devisings and inventions as distractions from what's really important. These things consume us and rob us of our time and decision-making abilities. Government, our jobs, media and advertising, celebrities, political correctness, and sometimes even loved ones, all try to tell us what we should and should not do and say. We comply because we don't want to offend.

We have "entertainment" in any format we want it, whenever we want it, at our fingertips 24/7. Technology, as great as it can be, is another trap if we're not careful and can easily eat up our time.

So, what decisions am I talking about that cause us not to spend our time wisely?

When a couple falls in love, they want to spend as much time together as possible, right? Is this reflected in our relationship with Jesus? Are we so in love with Him that we can easily set aside other things to willingly, eagerly, spend more time with Him? Is our relationship with Him that real? Is it a priority for us to maintain that relationship above all else? Is He becoming more important as we become less important? Our decisions directly affect this.

Is the time we spend reading the Bible truly a refreshing or is it an "I have to read my four chapters today" event? (Which is legalism, by the way.)

Psalm 1:1-2 says: (emphasis mine)

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

If scripture restrains us from doing what it is we truly want to do, then the Word of God is not really our delight, but law which leads to legalism. Our decisions decide this. "Hey pastor, is it okay to watch this movie?" Law! "Should I tithe off the gross or the net?" Law! "How far can I go on a first date?" Law! The Word is not our delight, but a restraint.

Psalm 112: 1, which is summed up in verse 9: vs. 1 - "How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands." vs. 9 - "They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor." (That even goes into what I was talking about as far as how our decisions affect how we'll spend eternity.)

There are more scriptures on this. That's just one. Moving on to more decisions...

We'll steal a few minutes here and there to things we want, like check our e-mail or catch up on something. Do we find ourselves stealing away just to acknowledge Him with a prayer? These decisions we make tell us where our hearts, and treasures, are.

And it's not just spending time with Him and reading the Bible. How often are we willing to spend a day off helping someone else? How many opportunities to share the love of Christ do we take? How about the little things, like, putting aside something we're doing to listen to someone who needs to talk, someone who needs a ride, someone who needs a couple bucks, helping our spouse finish a chore, listening to our kids and encouraging them with more than a passing, "That's good, Charlie." Instead of vegging out in front of the TV because we're tired, how about taking God at His word and going to the Word to be refreshed? The little, seemingly insignificant decisions.

How about deciding to help a stranger? Matthew 25:40 - "And the King will say,‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’"

Now, how about Matthew 25:45 - “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’" (Yikes.)

Do homeless people (a "least of these") ask you for change? Uncomfortable, yes. They might spend it on alcohol, drugs or cigarettes, true. But what about Luke 6:35? "And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return." Now look at II Corinthians 9:9 - "As the Scriptures say, 'They share freely and give generously to the poor.Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” (Again, our decisions affect how we'll spend eternity.)

All of these decisions -- how we spend our time -- affect the kingdom of God. Sure, there's a time to relax and watch tv, take a nap and even play on the internet. But, how much time do we spend doing those things in comparison to making conscious decisions to do kingdom work?

Our decisions matter. All of them. Sometimes we need a reminder to shake us awake from complacency and blind routine. That's all I wanted to do. Get people thinking about more than New Year's resolutions and more about eternal matters.