“Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:14-16
What’s the connection between your dreams and how you spend your time?
Simon and Jabu both wanted to learn English. Simon spoke at length about how many opportunities would open up for him at work if he could speak English. Jabu didn’t say much, but in the days to come, he devoted himself to faithfully spending 45 minutes a day practicing. A year later, Jabu had made fantastic progress and could confidently speak basic English. But despite his supposed excitement to learn, Simon had never taken the time to practice, so he knew no more than he had a year ago.
Like money, how we spend our time reflects our values. And the more time we spend doing something, the more we invested we are in that pastime, person, or skill.
If you’ve got big goals for your life, they have to be reflected in how you spend your time. Dreams don’t happen just because we feel passionate about them or talk about them. The Bible teaches, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
One Bible teacher explains it like this: “An aggressive approach to time management is the same thing as a passion for your life destiny. I have a passion to fulfill my destiny. And my passion for my destiny is identical to an aggressive scheduling of time. These are identical subjects. I see people talk with passion about their destiny and then they talk about looseness with their time and they never connect the dots.”[1]
[1] “The Power of a Focused Life (2014) Intimacy.” The Power of a Focused Life – Mikebickle.Org, 22 Aug. 2014, mikebickle.org/resource/the-power-of-a-focused-life/.
