Making Time for the Important

Making Time for the Important
by Dr. Gary Chapman


Could it be that God did not understand how busy we were going be? Otherwise he would have made the day longer than twenty-four hours. Or is it that we are trying to do more than he ever intended us to do?

As I read the Gospels, I see Jesus active but not hurried, accomplishing good but not appearing to be busy. I keep having the recurring thought that maybe he marched to the beat of a different drummer.

Is it possible that we have been influenced more by our culture than by Christ and have we substituted activity for accomplishment?

There was a day when people had time to visit one another; when families had time to eat meals together; when families sat together in church; and when friends died, people had time to go to the funeral. Of course, that was before we had so many "time savers." What have we done with all the time we saved? Join us this week as we talk about making time for the important. Or have we forgotten what is important?

As Christians, we know that life's ultimate meaning is to be found in relationships: first, a relationship with God, and second, with people.

On the human level, the marriage relationship is designed by God to be the most intimate, with the parent-child relationship a close second. Yet some of us are pursuing activities that have little to do with building marriage and family relationships. From time to time we have pangs of guilt, but evidently not strongly enough to stop the merry-go-round and get off.

Have you heard people say, "I know that I ought to...but I just don't have time"? Is it true that don't have time to do what we ought to do?

The word ought means to be bound by moral law, conscience, or a sense of duty. If we are not accomplishing our "oughts", then we need to examine our use of time. Ultimately, we can control the use of our time. We can accomplish our goals for marriage and family.

Making time for the important means that we must say "No" to things of lesser importance. Do you need to sit down and take a fresh look at how you are using your time? Then do it today.
 

Article written by Dr. Gary Chapman. Based on the book, Now You're Speaking My Language (formerly, Covenant Marriage) by Dr. Gary Chapman. Published by Moody Publishing. For a complete listing of Dr. Chapman's books and resources, click here.