Stewardship – Time
I am working through a book by Kenneth Boa called “Handbook to Prayer – Praying Back Scripture to God” (Logos link) or also called “Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship” (Amazon link). [NOTE: I have no clue why the title change... I should probably look into that at some point, but that's for another day.]
I came across a prayer today that has really got me thinking. It’s nothing new, it’s nothing revolutionary, but it is really challenging me in my walk.
Faithfulness as a Steward…
- Of time
- Of talents
- Of treasure
- Of truth
- Of relationships
This got me thinking about myself as a steward of God’s things. I started thinking about what I did today/tonight. There were certainly some rewarding times and conversation.. but could I have done more? It was also interesting to me that I read a blog on ChurchCrunch entitled “The End is Part of the Plan” where John talks about the most valuable thing he has, quantitatively, is time.
I waste so much time on unimportant things that add no value to God, to my family or to those around me — things that are ultimately a “time suck”. I need to get more organized and intentional around my time committments, especially on days/nights where I don’t have a planned schedule/agenda (such as work days). I need to get more intentional about who I am spending time with, how much time I am spending with them and what we are talking about.
From an encouragement perspective, today, I have several very good conversations.
- I met with Johnathan Dodson from Austin City Life and discussed Fight Clubs. Amazing guy with a vision for reaching people in the Austin central area. I am definitely better off today having spent time interacting with him.
- I spent time interacting with a Catholic at work about faith by works versus salvation through Christ alone. It wasn’t a confrontational discussion, it was just some sharing. It challenged me to be able to share the gospel in a way that didn’t respect his beliefs, but also demonstrated what I believe and why I believe it. The Bible is a powerful thing and we can’t take it’s truths for granted.
- I hung out with my oldest daughter for a few minutes as she laid down for bed and we talked about her day. She had a tough day but didn’t want to orginally talk about it. It was very cool that I was able to tell her that she can always tell me anything and I will just listen — not try to fix it. I gave her a big hug and let it go. She decided to share with me after a minute or two how her day didn’t go so well at school for a couple of various reasons. By the time we ended the conversation, she was laughing and smiling as big as she could. We even talked about how she is always “watching me” to see what I do in every situation. She told me “you are cool and I want to be just like you.” There are probably never going to be words coming out of her mouth that are that powerful and impactful to me. That is what it is all about with children.
I am incredibly blessed. Now, what I need to do is use the talents and giftings God has given me to have a greater impact. Not an impact on myself but on my family, on my church, on my community, on my co-workers. All of these people are gifts to me from God. To view any one of them as something other than that just lessens the real value of the possibilities God has laid before me to have a greater impact for His kingdom.
God is good. It is beyond my understanding how He gave us Isaiah 53 somewhere around 500 years before Christ was ever born. The text that continues to jump out at me is the one that conveys a message of Jesus carrying my transgressions. It is personal.