After creating man, God blessed him abundantly with many resources to manage his existence. Of all these resources, the most important was time. While the concept of time is infinite to God, he provided us with a more manageable measure of it in the form of night and day, within which he expects us to become better stewards of time. Money, as we know it today, has evolved as a measure of reward for the value we are able to create in the time given to us by God. Our effective management of these resources are therefore important in leading an impactful life.
As believers, our ability to effectively manage time and money begins when we acknowledge God as the source for both and our roles as being steward and not owners. In Haggai 2:8, God tells the prophet that the silver and gold are His. David, in Psalms 31:15, as King of Isreal, acknowledged God as the owner of time. It is important to remember that Irrespective of how dire a situation is or becomes, the availability of time presents the hope for a turnaround of situation. The life of Job in Job chapter 42 gives us a glimpse into the possibility of a turnaround in the availability of time.
We need to evaluate how we appraise time and money. To better value money and become better stewards, we need to understand that it’s temporary in nature. Time is the unit of our destiny and a measure of how we were able to make an impact while alive. Time is constantly moving and its use gives a good glimpse into the things we hold dear in our lives. Our time is constantly under attack by Satan, who constantly attacks us by distracting us with many seemingly important activities in our lives that make little impact in living a fulfilled life. Without caution, giving these things much attention would overtime shift our focus to acquiring more wealth and ignoring the things of God.
There is a need to evaluate our approach to time and money. In Psalms 24:1, we understand that the earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it. We therefore do not own anything in our live but merely act as stewards of everything in our custody. In 1 Timothy 6:7 (Amp), we understand that “…we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it. As such, we need to put our access to God’s resources to good use and not see ourselves as owners but as stewards. The parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 exposes us to the consequences of claiming ownership to what is God’s. We will be accountable to God for how we have spent our time and money, and must therefore manage them effectively.
We also need to effectively allocate time and money in our daily living. How we allocate time and money is indicative of the direction our lives would take. Our value for relationship (physical and spiritual) around us would be measured by the time we invest into the relationship. This feeds into who we become eventually. It is important that we spend time nurturing a relationship with God rather than pursue riches unguided. As we become godly people with character and value, we are able to attract wealth to ourselves when we create value in the lives of people around us and therefore attract wealth.
As we go about our lives, it is important to keep Psalms 112:1-3, which reminds us that “blessed is the man that fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments…his descendants will be mighty on earth…wealth and riches are in his house…”.
