CONVERTERLATING YOUR TIME

Part 15:

While we are living in this world, each one of us has twenty-four hours each day. That

doesn't seem like so much until you break it down and

discover it represents 1,440 minutes! That's a lot of

minutes … and we all have the same amount to use. We

may have different talents, and the amount of treasure

varies from person to person, but we all have the same

amount of time. And the basic question I have for you here is: In what ways are you

using the time God has given to you in this world? Think about that for a few of your

valuable minutes. Really! What are you presently using your time for? Are you

frantically trying to cram in all of your commitments? Are you spending too much time

on frivolous things? Are the things you are pursuing bringing you joy–or exhaustion?

And if you are honest, how much of your time are you using up on perishable pursuits,

and how much are you investing in God's kingdom for eternal purposes?

Longevity of life is not really the issue here. Some people live very long lives and never

accomplish anything of significance while others accomplish a great deal in a very short

amount of time. What is important is that we accomplish what we are supposed to in the

amount of time we are given.In many ways, time is like money. I didn't say time is money, I said time is like money. It

is a resource, a valuable one at that, and it is available to us to use in whatever way we

choose.

With money, we all have fixed expenditures: housing, utilities, food, clothing,

transportation. Many of us choose a standard of living that uses our money. We don't

often think about it in this way, but it's true. After we pay for our fixed expenditures,

whatever is left, what I call "discretionary," we use on entertainment, eating out,

vacations, and hopefully, ministry. All of this requires decisions.

The same is true of our time. We all have fixed "expenditures" with our time: a certain

amount of sleep, regular work, eating, including whatever preparation is needed, and

obligations to our families. The time we have left we see as discretionary, we can

"spend" it on whatever we choose. However, one important factor to consider is that the

lifestyle standard that we currently have for our "fixed" expenditures, whether that

expenditure is money or time, directly affects what we have "left over."

If I have a lifestyle that requires a lot of money, there isn't much left over for anything

else. If I have a lifestyle that requires a lot of my time, either for work or even a lot of

"stuff" to maintain, I won't have a lot of time for other important things. So we see that

our discretionary time is also directly affected by the choices we make regarding our

fixed commitments. We often feel like we don't have any choices, but we always do. Are

we thoughtful, disciplined, and intentional with our commitments, or are we just letting

them happen?

What possibilities has God put in front of you to use your

time for him? Do you see the potential in your

circumstances to converterlate your time into eternal

treasure? Or is all of your time wrapped up in your own

obligations? Do you often postpone making decisions aboutyour time commitments, not because you are being reflective, but because you don't want

to really make any changes? Do you put off something really important because

something less important takes your focus off of God's call to you? These are important

questions! Either we want to converterlate our time … or we don't.We know that time in this world is a perishable commodity. It is going to run out for each

one of us at some point. Our time will have no real meaning in the eternal world, but

what we do with it now does have an impact on eternity. In the 1960s, Charles Hummel

wrote a book entitled, Tyranny of the Urgent. The basic premise of this book is that the

most urgent task is not always the most important. The tyranny of the urgent lies in its

distortion of priorities. We must evaluate the use of our time not by what is most urgent,

but by what is most important. We need discernment to converterlate our perishable time

into something imperishable. And we will only have the wisdom that we need for that

evaluation if we depend on God and his Word to guide us.

It has become increasingly clear to me that the only two things that will survive the

perishable world are the Word of God, which endures forever, and the souls of people,

who will live in one of two places for all of eternity. Jesus Christ came into this world to

save sinners. When he left this world physically, he left us, his followers, to reach our

respective generations with the good news of salvation. One of our responsibilities as

believers is to be ambassadors for Christ. The apostle Paul made it clear when he said,

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through

us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). Each one of us is an ambassador for Christ in one way or

another. Our mission is to introduce people to the person of Jesus Christ! How are you

using your time to make this happen?

We all know, at least on an intellectual level, that this present world is passing away with

all of its attractions. However, why is it that we often don't embrace this reality until we

experience a personal crisis? For me, I came face to face with the shortness of my days

when I was diagnosed with cancer. It forced me to evaluate the priorities in my liferegarding the use of my time. I needed to reconsider my commitments in light of the

perishable and imperishable, the temporary and eternal.

In many ways I was using my time to pursue my own kingdom. But as I studied God's

Word, I began to see the opportunities before me to make a difference in God's kingdom.

I discovered that I needed to use my time to invest in the things God desires.

In the Old Testament we read, "Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of

wisdom" (Psalm 90:12, ESV). As our relationship with God develops and we soak in his

Word, he reveals more of himself and

his plans for us. As we flow with the

Holy Spirit, he empowers us to

accomplish God's purposes. God, as the

great designer of the entire universe, has

a perfect plan for each one of us. He is

the one who knows how we should use

our time and what will bring us joy.

Transformed KingdomNomics thinkers

remind themselves that we have a

limited amount of time to make an

impact on this world and the world to

come. Our natural desire to simply spend our time on the values of this world must be

transformed into a desire to make a difference in eternity.

Beware: The Chief Consumerlator Wants Your Time

At the very most, Satan wants to use our time for his benefit, and at the very least, he

wants to keep us from using our time in the way in which God wants us to. The Chief

Consumerlator will use whatever means he has available to keep us from doing God's

will. We must remember that time is a currency that needs to be invested in the right

things.I have found that many people attempt to find fulfillment in life in the wrong ways and in

the wrong places as they follow wrong pursuits. They

think that the pleasure of this world, whether it is found

in relationships, work, recreation, or pastimes, will

provide the meaning in life that they so desperately

wish to experience. Often, time used in this way simply

results in disappointment, disillusionment, regret, depression, or even despair.

One of the priorities we often fail to make time for is our relationships. Time invested in

people will always reap dividends. However, many people make the mistake of investing

their time in things that offer an immediate sense of satisfaction, but that in the long term

damage their relationships with those who should be the closest to them. An example of

someone who fails to properly converterlate their time into establishing relationships is

the business person who consumes too much of their time on a career at the expense of

their marriage and family. No one lying on their deathbed ever said they should have

spent more time on their business career in exchange for their family relationships. The

regret is the other way around. They wish they had spent more time with their loved ones.

We need God's wisdom to avoid falling prey to Satan's subtle deceit.

The book of Isaiah tells us, "If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy

the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will

become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a

sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered

garden, like a spring whose waters never fail" (Isaiah 58:10–11). When I think of a "well-

watered garden" or a "spring whose waters never fail," I think of something with vitality

and creativity and beauty. If I apply this metaphor to a person, I think of someone who is

energetic, and focused, and alive. Are you that person? Or are you a sun-scorched garden

or a spring that has gone dry. I encounter a lot of people who are tired. They are busy.

They are weary. And they are frustrated that their lives are not producing anything of

substance, let alone something that will last for all eternity. Satan has confused theirpriorities. The Chief Consumerlator will make you too busy and will find a way to rob

you of your joy and life if you are not careful.

The Chief Consumerlator will also use guilt to immobilize us. I'm not referring to the

good kind of guilt that brings us to repentance for our sins. I'm talking about the false

guilt that is simply fear of disapproval. Sometimes people experience false guilt when

they use their resources for anything other than God's eternal purposes. The question

people often ask me is: How much time can I use for "myself"? They are referring to the

discretionary time that we discussed earlier. There are many good things that we have to

enjoy: TV, sports, entertainment, social media. The important thing to remember here is

that there is not a formula for using our

time. It is critical that we evaluate on a

regular basis how we are using our time,

but we also must know that God leads each

one of us differently in each chapter (or

season) of our lives according to how he

designed us individually. How do we

balance our time between our various

responsibilities? We seek God's wisdom!

In Ephesians 5 we read, "Carefully

determine what pleases the Lord … Be

careful how you live … Make the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:10–16, NLT).

We need to rely on our relationship with God and his guidance.

Finding Balance

There is a difference between using time for refreshment and renewal, which all of us

need from time to time, and wasting time on pleasure. There are many ways to relax and

enjoy life, however there needs to be balance in this area. We need refreshment; however,

we need to carefully exercise discernment in order to make sure we are not just being a

consumerlator instead of a Converterlator.

I say this because when I was younger, for me the epitome of "living" was to be on the

golf course. I would grab every moment I could to be there. I loved everything about that

lifestyle. However, my desire for that way of life from a time standpoint began to fade as

I exposed myself more and more to the truth of God's Word. As my desire to spend more

time in the Word grew, I began to see my excessive time on the golf course as purely

selfish. As I spent more time studying the Bible and learning how to soak, sow, and flow

with the Spirit, I was impressed with the need to

converterlate my time for the achievement of eternal

purposes. This included preparation time for teaching

Sunday school classes, which actually also benefitted

me so much personally. I began to think about how I

could use the secular talents that God has given to me for eternal purposes.

When we start thinking this way, our goals and motivations begin to change as God calls

us to move in different directions in our new life with him. I began to aspire to be on the

King's team, and to really be an impact player for helping to fulfill the Great

Commission. My time on the golf course began to have less allure. Our world has a lot of

perishable distractions to offer us! Sometimes those perishable distractions are actually

"good" things: sports, work, relationships, hobbies. We need these things, but we also

need to be careful in how we use our time. The question always remains: Where is your

focus?

The world says "indulge;" God says "do my will." We must set our sights beyond the

deceptions of our culture. We need to experience relaxation and pleasure in the way God

intends. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we discover that King Solomon used his time to

pursue many good things, but because his focus was outside of God's purpose, all of

those pursuits became meaningless to him. We must always keep in mind that we will

only find joy and purpose in our relationships and accomplishments within the context of

God's purpose for our lives. And it is only within the context of a future eternity that all

of these things make sense.We find true fulfillment when we discover what we have been designed for and then use

our time in conformance to that design. This does not mean that we need to be busier. It

means that we need to carefully and intentionally use the specific time that God has given

us. What opportunities has God recently given you to use your time for him? Ask the

Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God's direction in this area of your life, and

then act on what he shows you!