T H E O P H I L U S

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

-Ephesians 5:15-17

Every Tuesday after our Pastoral Board meeting, we would go together for lunch as staff and discuss life together. It was recently that we began to talk about how fast time went, and how our year was measured out by Easter and Christmas, and once those two seasons pass a whole year has gone by. A single year felt so short. In my freshmen college year, to think that I would be in school working on my bachelors degree for a whole 4 years and then my masters degree for another 3 years seemed like an eternity for me. It was quite a number of years, but in retrospect, how fast the time has passed.

There were many days in my college years that I had procrastinated and ended up with disastrous results on my examinations, or even in my own sanity. There was never anything really fruitful of those times, and for the most part were justified by saying “I’ve been overworked and have too much to prioritize”. While partially true, in hindsight I did not maximize the time that I had to work on my responsibilities diligently. I’m sure many of us have had those days, and some of us may be experiencing that first hand as a student this very day.

An article by Amy Novotney from the American Psychological Association writes:

“What triggers students to clean out closets or wax the car when it’s time to work on their statistics paper? Usually it’s self-doubt, says procrastination researcher and Carleton University psychology professor Timothy A. Pychyl, PhD. ‘As students, you’re always being pushed out of your depths—that’s what learning is,’ Pychyl says. Graduate students worry about performing inadequately or fear their success may raise others’ expectations of them, he says. Other students may actually think they get a thrill out of delaying their work and believe they work best under pressure, though that’s not borne out in the experimental data, says DePaul University psychology professor Joseph Ferrari, PhD. Several studies in Steel’s 2007 meta-analysis suggest procrastination is negatively related to overall GPA, final exam scores and assignment grades.”

Paul writes in Ephesians that we should make the most of every opportunity that is given to us. It is a gift but also a responsibility for us to make the most of the time and resources we have and use it worshipfully. Then how do we manage our time as people who are followers of Jesus Christ? It is imperative that we are diligent with what we are given. If we are in school: to do the best we can to make the most of the opportunity that he has given us – both in our studies and our relationships with people to live out Christ. If we are working: for us to be a dedicated employee and make the most of our opportunity to work, especially with others – that we ought to live out Christ in our workplace both in our work ethic and also in our relationship with colleagues. If we are unemployed: to use that time to search more about God and to grow in his Word and finding opportunities to serve him in the meantime.

Regardless of what state of life you are in, whether you are a student, employed, or unemployed, God has given you the opportunity to live out his Word and to be around certain people daily. It is a choice that we can make today to maximize our time to both search more of God, and to search more chances for God to have his moment in the relationships we have.

In review…

1. Maximize your time for Knowing God

2. Maximize your effort for the task that has been given to you

3. Maximize your heart for people that matter to God

Today, may you be challenged to live maximizing the opportunities the Lord has given you, and to live in His glory and for the things that please him.