“We have time enough if we will but use it aright.”
~ Goethe
Two different audiences will be reading this post.
1) Those to whom it will be a confirmation.
2) Those who really need to hear this message and take action on it.
Last week, I presented four ways to know if you’re growing in the Lord or not. Today, I want to invert the pyramid on that subject and talk about one of the causes.
In our busier-than-ever-yet-I-invite-you-to-play-FarmVille-and-Candy-Crush-with-me culture, I often hear Christians in their 20s and 30s say, “I just don’t have time” when it comes to taking advantage of golden opportunities to accelerate their spiritual growth.
The response, “I just don’t have time” is an excuse. And it’s not an honest one.
The truth is, we make time for what’s important to us.
On this point, Michael Frost made this statement in response to those who say, “I don’t have time” when it comes to spiritual opportunities:
“Repent. Seriously, I’m not insensitive to the needs and pressures of contemporary life. Look, it’s not rocket science. I just think our society’s values of materialism, consumerism and individuality have a stranglehold on us. They are shaping us into the kinds of people we don’t want to be.”
Case in point: When I was in my 20s and 30s, I was as busy as any other mortal. I was a university student, had a full-time job, family, and all that each demands.
Yet I found time to listen to audio messages from the few people who were changing my life back then.
I found time to connect with other believers who wanted more of the Lord.
I found time to read the books and articles by the few authors who were making a revolutionary impact on my heart and mind.
I found time to read the Scriptures (not every day, mind you, and not huge amounts in one sitting).
I found time to fellowship with the Lord throughout the day.
I found time to read the one newsletter I subscribed to every month.
I found time to attend conferences and events that I believed could change my life.
Point: I don’t care how busy you are (or think you are), you can always find time to sharpen the blade of your spiritual life.
The real question is: how important is it to you?
Here’s how I made time:
- I listened to audio messages while I was exercising, walking, driving (commuting), or doing house work. ANYONE can find time to do this.
- I went to bed an hour earlier and I woke up an hour earlier to read. Sometimes I reversed the order and read at night.
- I stripped away those things that weren’t really helping me much — which was most of the books my Christians friends recommended to me. You know, the “pop” books that have multiple copies in bookstores and that are featured on devil-vision, I mean, television. I reduced my spiritual input to the best and the highest. I used my limited time for those people who were ministering Jesus Christ to me (and not “things” about Him or “information”) and who were showing me God’s Eternal Purpose, which is the reason for living.
I’m convinced that I couldn’t have the impact I have today if I didn’t invest my time in high-quality ministry and reading high-quality content over the years (“deeper life” material that’s enduring and filled with Christ.)
Those resources inspired me to get to know the Lord for myself and to find Him in the Scriptures. And to find the time to do so.
In my experience, those who say “I just don’t have the time” really mean, “I don’t want to make the time. It’s not important enough to me.”
Here’s the stinger. In virtually every case I’ve seen, the same people have time to watch movies.
They have time to play (and invite all their friends to play) FarmVille and/or Candy Crush Soda Saga (or some other life-altering game).
They have time to descend into fruitless, no-win arguments on Facebook over guns, Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump, gender-roles, biblical inerrancy, ( ____ fill in the blank), ISIS, etc.
They have time to watch sporting events.
They have time to attend parties.
They have time to play video games.
They have time to binge The Walking Dead or some other life-changing TV show (Ahem).
The list goes on.
Resolve: Consider all the spiritual content you’re letting into your life — books, blogs, podcasts, etc. — and consider the non-spiritual things you’re consuming — then stream it down to the gold. Strip it down to that which gives you Jesus Christ and shows you His Eternal Purpose.
And make the time for that. The time is there if you look for it. You have to be intentional or else you’ll find your spiritual life being squeezed out by other less important things.
Of course, I’m saying all of this with the assumption that you’re interested in growing spiritually to the point where you’ll make a tremendous impact on the Kingdom of God. If not, well, just ignore my riff here and keep using your time on those things that lack eternal value.
Amen! My wife and I got rid of our cable subscription years ago (before it was trendy and before Roku/AppleTV/Netflix/etc) because we realized we were losing too much time mindlessly flipping channels. Instead we spent time exercising and reading or just hanging out together.
That broke the habit and now I rarely watch TV and don’t really give two hoots about the newest shows. I feel like I get a lot more out of life by spending time with others, reading, exercising, praying, etc.
As Paul said, “Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish and understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph 5:15-17
I thank God for leading me to this wonderful blogsite where I can receive excellent thoughts on how to grow in my relationship with the Lord Jesus and also how I can be a good leader. Thank you for sharing Frank! God bless you!
What’s ironic is that discipleship is an investment that actually saves time. Think about how much time many of us spend worrying, stewing in anger, fixing damaged relationships, pursuing entertainment to add excitement to our overly-safe lives, working overtime to gain financial independence, doing ministry on our own when we could be discipling others to minister with us.
Amen, Frank! You highlight the sobering truth that spiritual growth is more about prioritizing and less about finding the time. The simple fact is that the time is there – we only have to use it wisely.
I am always struck when I read Tozer or even Dale Carnegie and they describe the same “too busy” culture existed in the mid-1900’s! I have learned my thinking that I am more busy than ever because of our modern age has been nothing but an excuse. I have cofounded a mission to create tools that make it easy for busy people to build spiritual growth habits. Perhaps we can all help others start small so they can naturally grow their dedication to more and more spiritual disciplines.
Thanks for your ministry, Frank! We now get to benefit from your years of study!
HI Frank,
Your right on the money we make time for other meaningless (THINGS) in our life like TV, games sporting events, but when it comes to the kingdom we put off spending quality time with our Lord. Our biggest challenge personally is coordinating time with other families to gather and fellowship. Its very difficult with jobs, kids sports taking care of our home and spending time with our own families. I sometimes look at the Amish and think in some ways they have it very right. Working together helping each other and being very closely involved in everything they do. Not being consumed, distracted and caught up in the modern day luxuries this world has to offer. Bottom line if were passionate about our Lord we will be consumed by Him with our relationship taking top priority, JMO
Brother Ives
Thank you Frank. Because of that very issue (‘Time’) I’ve said no for now to your mentoring course. This offer, however, is not something I want to unintentionally forget, so this post has been good for me, and I sincerely appreciate hard-hitting prompts that the Spirit uses.
Keep speaking the Word.
Interesting that you wrote this because most of the people who read this post came to the opposite conclusion. They regarded the mentoring network and courses (http://frankviola.info) to be the “gold” and thus they made time for it, dropping off the other stuff they’re doing that’s not really giving them Jesus Christ in the depths and discovering God’s Eternal Purpose together.
Perfect timing, as I have been spending this month cutting out some of the fluff, and finding out what REALLY matters to me versus what SHOULD matter to me.
To put it another way, it’s not a matter of time – it’s a matter of priorities. So give your priorities to his kingdom and righteousness. You’ll be eternally glad you did.
I have said for many years that there is time to do what is important to us. We always make time for those things that we most want to do. A person’s daily calendar tells what that person most highly values, especially the portions where each of us chooses what to do (meaning, not work related).
There are a lot of good points in this post. It can be really hard to understand where our time goes, too. For my job as a virtual assistant, I track my time using something called Toggl. I’ve also used it to track time spent doing various volunteer activities. This week, because of feeling kind of scattered lately, I actually am using it to track *everything* (though a few things fall through the cracks) including Bible reading, getting kids ready for school, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. It’s been eye-opening for me.
Amen and amen! I returned to college while being a stay-at-home mom to three boys, but I always put time with the Lord first. I thought that it was going to be hard to fit in all that reading. But once it was a habit, it was great. And I felt like I actually was more productive. Thank for saying what I have always thought. You have the time for anything if you are willing to commit. Blessings!