Ephesians 5:15 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.â€
Most if not all of us have probably said something like, “I just don’t have enough time.†When asked how we are doing we say to each other, “I’m so busy.†But are these accurate statements?
Are we really more busy than those who lived before us? Think of the farmers in the field with their horse or mule drawn plow getting the fields ready for planting. Think of the dairy farmer milking by hand rather than a machine. What about the factory worker or the person working in the mines for 12 hour days?
Many of the tasks we do today can be done much more quickly than in days past. To cook a meal today often involves simply getting it out of the package and warming it up in the microwave. Even the more complicated meals are made faster by bread-makers, mixers, food processors and more. It is certainly easier to turn a knob on an oven than to start a wood or coal fire. We use to write a letter by hand, place it in an envelope, write the address and place a stamp on it, before we took it to the mailbox to send. Now we type a text, a Tweet or Facebook message and hit send and it is there instantly. Â It’s actually quite ironic that one of the things that was supposed to give us more time has become a major consumer of our time. We stare at our phones or tablets for hours and then wonder where the time went.
Do we really not have enough time or do we just not use our time properly?
We struggle to find time to really study our Bibles and search God’s Word, while we can carry on a conversation about the new popular TV show. We know how to fix the problems of our favorite sports teams, but not always so much the problems in our lives or our families. Answers to those problems aren’t on TV or at the ballfield or arena.
Some of us work far too much as we find our identity in what we do at our jobs or in how much money we can make. We are absolutely called to work to provide for ourselves and our family but we are also called to work at our relationship with God. Actually our jobs are supposed to be a part of this effort to glorify God and grow in Him.
I hear it all the time that we are too busy or we don’t have enough time, but in most cases this just isn’t true. As the scripture says, “making the best use of the time†and “Teach us to number our days aright,†from Psalm 90:12  God allows us to choose how we will live our lives, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…†Joshua 24:15. Will we choose our phones or our TV? We will choose our jobs or the ball field? God lets us choose everyday. The answer is not to never choose some of these things, sometimes they can be good distractions for a moment, but when we find ourselves saying we don’t have enough time or we are just too busy, then we probably should change our choices. We have enough time.