Time Well Spent

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.--Ecclesiastes 5:12

I used to describe myself as a person who performs well under pressure. Although this is still true to some extent, I've learned that the grill of the adrenaline rush pales in comparison to the peace and contentment that comes from a consistent and steady effort to do my best and make the wisest use of my time. My most restful nights of sleep are those that arrive on the heels of a productive day at work or satisfactory completion of household chores. The peacefulness that overtakes me at the end of such a day is not necessarily correlated to the amount of activity. Rather, it is related to the attitude with which I approach those activities. That attitude is one of cheerfulness and stewardship.

God has given each of us the same number of hours in a day. He also gives us a choice about how to spend those hours. We can fritter them away selfishly, we can begrudgingly give a few minutes to God, or we can remember that He is the creator of time and has chosen to give us a finite measure of it during our lives on earth. We can either watch television for several hours after dinner, or read His word and spend time in prayer. We can sit in front of our computers, idly chatting or gaming, or we can engage in meaningful conversations and activities with family members. The choice is up to us.

There are days when I find myself wasting large amounts of time. This often proves disastrous to my level of motivation, not to mention my walk with God. Before I know it, I'm telling myself that I don't have time to spend with God because there are so many other things that I need to do first. God asks that we be good stewards of the gifts He gives us, and I believe that includes making wise decisions about how we spend our time.

I'm discovering that the real path to peace and contentment is found by daily walking with Christ. My efforts and labor for His kingdom are so much more rewarding than anything else I could undertake in my lifetime. At the end of the day, I want to be able to crawl into bed and be greeted with the sweet sleep that comes from having spent my day operating according to God's timetable and not my own. Moreover, at the end of my life I hope to be welcomed into His kingdom with a satisfying hug and the words "well done, good and faithful servant."