Your Days are Numbered: A Closer Look at How We Spend Our Time & the Eternity Before Us

by John Perritt

Pray that He would begin to plant a desire in your heart. God in His infinite wisdom answers prayers in ways that are often different to our desires, but I tend to think He loves prayers of believers asking for a stronger devotion to Him. Pray those prayers and start carving out time. Start seeing this time of meditation as a non-negotiable. If you have to cut some negotiables out, do it.

What has been helpful is to think of your life in terms of semesters and pick a book you’re going to work through as a couple for a semester.

Family devotions are obviously a good thing, but I don’t think you have to have them every day. That being said, there should be some formal reading and praying with your children that occurs throughout the week.

It’s interesting how many Christians seem to think that sharing the gospel is optional in life. I don’t think any would come right out and say it but our lives display a lack of concern for people who are perishing. For Christians sharing the gospel is a must. This is not an option, but a clear command from Scripture. We must be telling others that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.

God wants you to get to know your neighbors.

We should be cautious of what we eat and we should exercise. Remaining healthy only helps us spread His name to the ends of the earth. If we are obese and unhealthy, we won’t be able to spread the word of Jesus Christ as effectively.

But we must be a people who exercise. We were given physical bodies that must be doing physical things. Before the fall we were charged to work the ground; therefore we must expect to do some type of physical work quite often. Whether that’s household chores, yard work or helping people move we will be doing physical working.

Interruptions are inconvenient and often annoying but we must welcome them to the glory of God.

Extra-curricular activities are often the major factor which hinders the spiritual growth of children. Let’s give our children the opportunities to participate in the traveling drama club or excel musically with their voice, but start by telling the culture how much time they can have our children instead of the other way around.

The non-negotiables are in descending order in terms of relational importance; i.e., God, spouse, children, church, neighbors.

If you have a busy lifestyle right now and you are discouraged with the process of prioritizing, what makes you think you could be successful apart from the Holy Spirit?

First, pray for conviction. We have wasted our time;

you must pray for wisdom and discernment.

you need to be praying for discipline. Much of our busyness stems from the fact that we are not very disciplined.

Another issue to pray for is strength.

Something else we need to cultivate is the fact that sharing something does not validate it. For some reason we think that sharing various aspects of our lives is only made worthwhile if we receive one hundred thumbs up. We think of something clever and we want to boast in our humor by tweeting it to our followers. Enjoy the life God has given you by remaining in the moment and not feeling a sense to share it with the world.

What I currently do is set a timer for my exercising and reading. I’ve found that it keeps me focused on the task at hand.

So don’t beat yourself up over a lack of discipline, but take steps to start fighting against lazy habits that have crept into your routines. Confess and ask for strength to carry on.

Or maybe you’re the type of person that likes to arrive ten minutes early to everything. This can be a great habit, but do you scream and yell at your spouse and children when they are running late?

interruptions remind us that life isn’t about us.

This idol of time is closely associated with those types of people we call control freaks. Often people who are more organized are organized for the sole purpose of attempting to control their life.