Time is one of our most precious commodities.  The problem is we too often waste it.  Using our time wisely is critical if we want to be of use to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)
¹⁵  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

“Walk” is a term often used figuratively to denote how we live our lives.  How do we live wisely, at least in part?  We do so by making the best use of the time.  Do you do that?  If I am honest, I am forced to say that I do not always do so.  The truth is we all waste time once in a while.  The key to being useful to the Lord is to not make a habit of wasting time because we do not have a lot of it. 

James 4:13-14 (ESV)
¹³  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

James is describing life as a whole.  Life goes by very quickly.  Before you know it, it is gone. The same is true of smaller segments of our life.  Years, months, weeks, days, and even hours come and go like “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

To make the best use of our time, we must avoid procrastination.  If there is something we know needs to be done, we should do it as soon as possible.  If this is true in the physical realm, and most of us would agree that it is, would it not be true spiritually?  Remember, time lost can never be retrieved.

It might be wise to make a list of the things that you want to accomplish. It can consist of the things you want to get done in a given day, and then a longer period like an entire week or more.  As long as we realize, as James teaches us, that time is in the hands of the Lord, and say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that,” there is nothing wrong with making a list of things we want to accomplish both short and long term.  Then, determining not to put things off, get busy, checking the items off the list as we accomplish them one by one.

Since I am talking about being useful for the Lord, your list should consist of spiritual things.  Start it off with morning prayer.  A day that begins with prayer is off to a good start (Psalms 88:13).  What is next on your list will probably depend on where you are in your life.  If you have to go off to work, it may be that your list involves how you will behave while around your co-workers.  Paul said, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5).  Putting in a good day’s work, letting your light shine before others, is time well spent.

Regardless of our circumstances in life, there is much to be done in the vineyard of the Lord.  The church is filled with things to do.  There are weak members who need encouragement.  There are sick members who need visiting.  There new members who need teaching.  There are active members who need help doing the work.  There are many opportunities to serve in the church, but it all begins with walking wisely, making the best use of our time.  Let us all determine to be useful to the Lord, doing our part in the kingdom, and let us start sooner than later. 

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.