Before we discuss strategies and principles of time stewardship, it is important to lay the groundwork for why this conversation is even worth having. While secular culture stresses the importance of both work and leisure in the context of self-gratification, the Bible offers a different reality: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). Time stewardship is an important virtue, because it is the Lord that you serve and for whom you work. Watch the following brief video, which emphasizes this truth:
Similarly, Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” In this passage, the Apostle Paul urges his readers to properly steward their time so as not to be foolish, but to do the Lord’s work, consistent with His will.
In order to steward time wisely, you must consider it for what it is—a resource. One author writes:
Most of us sense something else about time: it is a resource. Moreover, it is a unique resource. It cannot be accumulated like money or stockpiled like raw materials. We are forced to spend it, whether we choose to or not, and at a fixed rate of 60 seconds every minute. It cannot be turned on and off like a machine or replaced like a man. It is irretrievable. (Source)
Though time is a resource to be used, we must be careful not to let it control us. Consider this passage from a Bible.org article on time stewardship, in which the author discusses the “tyranny of time” (Source).
The Problem of the Tyranny of Time
Rather than a friend, we have turned time into a tyrant. And we have allowed this tyrant to invade and dominate our lives. If you look carefully at our society, you can easily see the decline in our social life and in our relationships with people brought on by the tyranny of time and by our failure to grasp the meaning of time from a biblical perspective. Regarding this decline, Robert Banks has this to say:
Seizing on the image of a familiar children’s toy, Don McLean compares the average person to a spinning top:
Round and round this world you go,
Spinning through the lives of the people you know …
How you gonna keep on turning from day to day?
How you gonna keep from turning your life away?
Consequently our encounters with others are becoming more and more limited and instrumental. We associate rather than interrelate, hold ourselves back rather than open ourselves up, pass on or steal by one another rather than pause and linger awhile. The number of our close friends drops and the quality of our married life diminishes.
Developing vital relationships with people is tremendously time consuming and, because of our utilitarian or production-oriented mindset, our tendency is to economize our commitment to spending the time needed to develop deep relationships with family and friends.
The life of the church is detrimentally impacted by these time pressures. There are too many meetings, programs, organizations, and other constraints calling the body of Christ to go, go, go, and do, do, do. The results are debilitating on our relationship with God, with one another, and with time needed to think, meditate, and grasp God’s truth. In this rat race of always being on the go, we are failing to grasp who we are, why we are here, and where we are really going. We are like the bus driver who told his passengers, “I have some good news and then some bad news. The bad news is we took a wrong turn and are on the wrong road. But don’t worry, the good news is we are making great time.” It’s as though the going itself, the movement at a fast pace, is its own reward regardless of where it takes us. We have become enamored with speed for the sake of speed itself. We want our computers to run with the speed of light. If it takes ten seconds to save a thirty-page file, we become impatient and complain. We want it done in a split second. But doesn’t it seem only logical that the traveler, if he is unsure of the route, should stop and ask where he is and where the present road is taking him rather than continue on in the same direction regardless of his speed?
There is a passage in Mark that speaks powerfully to this very issue of being preoccupied with activity or how much we have and can accomplish. We are told in Mark 6 that the disciples, having returned from a very busy time of ministry, gathered around the Lord Jesus and began to inform Him about all that they had done and taught (vs. 30). In the Greek text it is obvious that the disciples were quite preoccupied with their performance, with what they had done. This is seen in the repetition of the Greek word hosos, “everything.” Literally, the text reads, “Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.” But then in verse 31 we read these very interesting and thought provoking words, “He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat).” This was not just a problem of time, but of the responsibility to deal with the use of time in a way that would enhance the time they had.
This is dramatically illustrated in the story about the feeding of the five thousand which follows. This event was surely designed to teach them how much more they needed time alone with Him to draw upon the resources of His glorious life to be effective in the use of the time they had. It was not just a matter of “everything” they did, but of who was in charge of their lives. And for this, they (as it is with us) needed to hear the word of God to Elijah, “Leave here and…hide out” (1 Kings 17:3).
