I Have To Give It Up!

It was the worst game of golf he had ever played. As he missed his putt on the final green, he flew into a terrible tantrum, screaming and swearing and flailing his arms. Beating his putter on the grass, he cried, “I have to give it up!”

“Give up golf?” asked the caddy in disbelief.

“No,” snapped the golfer, “my ministry. The church is taking up too much of my time. Those people expect too much of me and always expect me to take care of them.”

Pure and simple, time is a special gift. It is a commodity that, once used in one way or another, can never be retrieved. Once gone, it is forever lost.

One expert on time put it this way: “Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. To waste your time is to waste your life. To master your time is to master your life.” Lost time leads to a lost life.

We must always begin each day with God in a time of worship – prayer, Scripture reading, meditating on His Word and recognizing His role in our lives. If we make Him our first priority and focus on Him throughout the day, we can trust Him to direct our paths and bless each moment He gives us.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to not only do things right, but to do the right things in the right way, at the right time. I surrender my time to You and ask that You help me to use it wisely, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Scripture: Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Now It's My Time

Horace Whittell of England hated alarm clocks with a passion. Every weekday morning for 47 years he had been awaked at 6:00 a.m. to go to work. On the day after he retired, he took his clock outside, placed it on a rock and smashed it into little pieces shouting, “I’m through with you!”

For many there is nothing that can be more disturbing than an alarm clock that awakens them from a comfortable sleep. It may signal another boring day filled with endless interruptions and meaningless tasks. For others it may be the beginning of a day filled with one crisis after another and problems that cannot be solved.

How different for the Christian! Every day can be a special day, a day filled with unique challenges and great opportunities to witness and serve our Lord.

Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun.” This verse reminds us that God has a special plan that He has designed for each of us. And if we want to enjoy a peaceful, productive and purposeful life, we must look to Him for His guidance.

When we discover, accept and fulfill His plan, we will enjoy His blessings every moment of every day. What may have been an annoying alarm will be God’s voice calling us to another “season” of service, informing us of something significant that only we can do for Him.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for calling us to lives that are filled with countless opportunities to serve You in endless, exciting ways. May we always be found faithful. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Time Out!

One morning in a small town in Switzerland the clock in the tower stopped. Children unaware of what happened naturally thought that they had more time to stop and enjoy the lovely spring day. Secretaries on their way to work stopped to visit with their friends in the little shops that surrounded the square. Men reading their newspapers took some extra time to enjoy their stories. After about thirty minutes, the clock started again and the children, the secretaries and the businessmen, noticing that the hands were moving, ran off to their appointments. These people were late because the clock they trusted pointed to the wrong time.

Each of us has a personal clock ticking inside of us. It has a specific number of “ticks” that God has allocated to each of us that will determine how long we will live. There are times when we think that our clock is pointing to a great number of days that we cannot see nor count on. We may have a year in mind when we plan to retire and begin to live a life of ease and do things we have delayed doing.

God’s Word reminds us, however, that “None of us live for ourselves.” God has given each of us the power to make plans and dream dreams and to look forward to the future. But the most important thing we must do is to include God in our plans. Do not forget that “while we live, we live to please the Lord and when we die, we go to be with Him.”

Prayer: Help us, Father, to listen to the “tricking” of our clock - to always be aware of the fact that we have no assurance of tomorrow. May we make each day count for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Romans 14:7-8 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.