Wednesday, January 21, 2009

How an eternal perspective affects time management

I have been thinking about this. If I have an eternal perspective throughout the day, how would that change the way I view things? We are bound by time but God is not! We try to order our lives according to the present and in anticipation of the future. I think of it like this. We are souls, bound by flesh. We are flesh, bound by time. Our souls are not bound by time(we are eternal beings) but because of our flesh we have to operate in time. I think one of the reasons we have such problems with time management is because our souls cry out "Stop the madness!" I am not suggesting that we should not keep schedules etc.. We have to. I am saying that our schedules should not rule our lives. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Not getting everything done at the end of the day. What if, while we were "getting things done" we decided to enjoy God and glorify him? It might take us a little longer to do things but at least we were honoring God in the process! Here are some examples:
-Teaching the kids(school)-"I've got to get this done before 3" vs. "God, be glorified in the teaching of my children! Help me to plant seeds of your word into their hearts, no matter how long it takes!"
-Laundry-"I hate doing laundry, I have 3 loads today and I don't have time to do it!" vs. "God, thank you for this opportunity to serve my family, may it prepare them to serve their families. Be glorified in this task you've given me. "
-Work-"I hate going to work! I can't wait to get home to spend time with my family" vs. "Thank you for giving me work, you say you have given man work to enjoy. Help me enjoy it. Thank you for giving me the gift of being able to serve my family and feel good after a successful day's work"
-Conversation with child-"I have got to get that kitchen cleaned and I can't if she keeps talking!" vs. "Thank you God that my child feels comfortable talking with me. Help me be attentive and not focus on things that pass away. Help me to hear her/him and respond in a God honoring way."

I know that it's hard to think this way but I know that God will be honored. We should pray that God would give us all the strength to look up instead of keeping our eyes on our own little world.

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