redeeming the time

Winning the battle against the clock

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This past Sunday, as part of my message on Living Like You Are Dying, I polled the congregation with regard to their battle with the clock. What I found, although not surprising considering the world in which we live, was a cause for concern. Nearly two thirds (60%) of all those in attendance acknowledged that they frequently or very frequently wish they could “slow the pace of my life and reorder some of my priorities.” And an additional 28% said they think about that occasionally. When given a list of things to choose from that they often regret, related to use of time, the top regret chosen by 73% of the people in attendance was “Not making the most of each moment.”

Bottom line, the poll confirmed that most people are too busy. As a result many are battling to slow their pace in life and would love to reorder their priorities. Does that describe you?

What would it be like to live in a world where we had all the time we needed to do the things that were really important. What if we never had to rush or never felt hurried? What if we were so in the present we could make the most of and savor each moment? That would genuinely be paradise would it not?

Living that way is possible and you don’t have to die and go to heaven to experience it.

To fully grasp that possibility we need to consider the life of Jesus.

8 Ways to Be Present

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“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Be Present! What does it mean? There are different ways to be present. Being physically present and accounted for is obviously important. Just ask a child about that regarding their parents or ask a supervisor about that regarding their subordinate. But everyone knows, especially children and bosses, that truly being present entails much more than that. Being present also means to be focused and engaged in the person and/or task at hand. Being present requires a focused engagement of every aspect of our being including the physical, mental, emotional and even the spiritual.

We live in a world that militates against that. We are bombarded 24/7 with distractions and demands for our presence, primarily through media, social networking websites, and e communication. We delude ourselves into thinking that with the sophistication of technology we can now be omni-present because we can multitask. But the stark reality is that a person cannot multitask and be fully present at the same time! It is a conceit to think that way and may actually border on idolatry because we make ourselves to be like God, who alone is omnipresent. How ridiculous it is when you stop to think about it.

So having established that, here is my take on what it means to be present from a Biblical perspective. The verse “Be still and know that I am God” says it like no other. The Hebrew word for “be still” literally means to “cease” or “cease striving”. It means to push the pause button on and forsake everything else in our lives to focus on Him.

To be present means to first and foremost ask God to be present in our lives and to focus on His presence. To fully be present in any situation or relationship we must begin there.

With that as a foundation for our understanding of what it means to “be present” I want to share with you what I am calling the 8 BE PRESENT Attitudes. I have discovered these from a study of the Scriptures and they provide eight simple ways to improve our ability to truly be present in any and every circumstance. In fact in six out of eight, the scripture used as an illustration literally tells us that these respective attitudes are to be done at all times and in every circumstance.

7 time management principles from the wisest man who ever lived

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“There is a time for everything.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

That is quite a statement. Why is it sometimes that does not appear to be true? Too often it seems like there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we feel we should do. Solomon, considered to be the wisest man who ever lived, penned those words. As the most productive king in Israel’s history he obviously knew something about time management.

Time management experts tell us that time management at its core is really life management. That is an important distinction and makes sense when we consider that Solomon’s book of Ecclesiastes is essentially a book about life management. Wasted time produces wasted lives. And as the Solomon, continually reminds us, wasting time in meaningless pursuits produces meaningless lives. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (1:2)

Since this extremely wise and accomplished man knew both the profit and pitfalls of life management we would do well to glean as many nuggets of truth as we can from his writings. A careful study of his book reveals what I would consider to be seven of the greatest time management principles ever written. Here they are.

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