How to Steward Your Time

Time is a resource that we cannot stop, and it does not wait for you. How do you prioritize your time, and how can you honor God with it? Join us this coming Sabbath as we journey together and learn the value of time.  

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Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for another year as we dive into 2026 and as we talk about living a generous time, let a generous life with the time that you've given us be with us now. In Jesus name. Amen.  

Happy New Year. As we enter a new phase in our lives. I want to share something with you that Ben Walundquist recently wrote. There is someone your age living their last day on earth, wishing they had time and opportunities you have right now. Someone who wishes they had one more sunrise, one more conversation, one more chance to pursue their calling, one more opportunity to love, give and to live with more purpose. And here you are, alive with time, opportunities, with gifts that God has placed in you for this exact moment in history. Don't take it for granted. Don't waste your days comparing, complaining or waiting for perfect conditions. Every morning you wake up is evidence that God isn't finished with you yet. We've all been called for a purpose, not only to love, but to share the Gospel. But you are a child of God.  

Today I want to go to Ephesians, chapter 5, Ephesians, chapter 5. And if you're reading the Bible for the first time, it's towards the end of the end of the Bible. You have the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Corinthians, and then Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Oh, I forgot Corinthians. All right. I used to be faster finding passages. Ephesians 5. I want to start at verse 15. Ephesians 5, verse 15. And it says be careful then how you live. Not as unwise, but as wise. Making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Are you making the most out of every opportunity that you are given in this lifetime? Are you making the most out of every opportunity?  

I want to share with you a couple more quotes as well some that you probably have heard or read before.  

• Time is what we want most, but we use what the worst. William Penn,   •   • Steve Jobs says, Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't waste your time living somebody else's life. There's a whole sermon we can do on that.   •   • Harvey Mackey says, Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it.  •   When we think about time, time unfortunately is finite. Time will go and time does not stop for any of us. It keeps on going. So how do we use our time? Did Jesus manage his time well? Was Jesus generous with his time? If you look throughout the Gospels, of course, there are many stories that we can look to just a handful of them.  

Number one, I think of the Samaritan woman. In John 4, when he meets this woman, he asks for a drink. Ultimately he ends up giving her living water, attaining. I also think in John 9 of when he healed the blind man. In Luke 19 we have the story of Zacchaeus. In Mark 10 we have the story where Jesus calls the children, he defends the children. Mark 5 We have Jairus, his daughter and the woman with the issue of blood. And lastly we have Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It was important to Jesus to mentor, to foster relationships with people.  

Time, of course, now is. It's a precious commodity. Are we using it wisely? Are we being present in our loved ones lives? Are we accomplishing the things that we desire to accomplish? Or more importantly, the things that God has asked us to accomplish? Are we being a good steward with the time and the resources God has blessed us with?  

Chris Hoy, anybody know who he is? He's a noted track cyclist. You know the velodrome where cyclists will ride on this velodrome? Okay. You know, it's not as popular as, let's say the Tour de France, but one of the best athletes of all time, Chris Hoy, he achieved, he won six Olympic gold medals and a silver. He became Britain's greatest. Great Britain's most successful Olympic cyclist and also second most decorated Olympic cyclist in his tally. He won a silver in 2000 in the team sprint in Athens. At the 2004 Olympics, he got gold in the 1km time trial. He got three golds in Beijing, including the team sprint, the individual sprint and the Kirin. And in 2012, he won two golds in the team sprint and also the Kirin and then also in the world championships. It's kind of like the super bowl of each discipline where you get to wear a special jersey afterwards.  

He was crowned 11 times and he won 17 world titles overall. He also won a gold medalist in the Commonwealth Games. He was the first British athlete since 1908 to win three Olympic gold medals in a single game. And eventually in 2009, he was knighted. So he's not just Chris Hoy, he is Sir Chris Hoy.  

To accomplish all of that, do you have to be incredibly disciplined? Absolutely. Just to think about all that he accomplished, he had to sacrifice a lot. He probably had to give up a lot of holidays, birthdays, times that he could be celebrating with his family and his friends. He was out training Riding on a velodrome. He gave a lot and he sacrificed a lot of time and he was rewarded with a lot of achievements.  

And yet two years ago, just a little over two years ago, he was diagnosed with terminal metastatic prostate cancer. And he was given two to four years to live spend two years. Now that sounds like such a downer. But in a sense, he then had to change and course correct his life. He's actually doing pretty good. He decided, well, what am I going to do with this diagnosis? How am I going to treat it? And he said something very profound that I know I've shared with you is that I can't choose essentially what happens to me, but I can choose how to respond to it. And so since then, he has focused charity rides, focusing on research, raising funds to understand prostate cancer research, and his whole life now essentially is to service and helping others and essentially living the best life that he can with his family.  

He recently was on the GCN, the Global Cycling Network YouTube page. And he did, I think, about a 45 minute little story on him and just the life that he exuded. Even after getting a diagnosis, a terminal diagnosis, he decided, well, I'm gonna go ride more mountain bikes. And he doesn't just ride mountain bikes like he's fully in the bike park, standing on the jumps. It's amazing. He actually broke his leg. But he recovered and he is living the best life that he can possibly. He's only 49 years old, but he knows how much time he has. He does not waste it. He lives intentionally every day.  

Now, when we talk about time, are we intentional with our time or do we just go through life? I think it's important that we see the value of being intentional. So as I said, Jesus was very generous with this time. Not only did he speak to others, choose to care, and to show how you can live a great life, but Jesus also. Jesus knew what he was doing. When he stands up in Luke 4 in the temple, what does he do? He declares his mission. And if you read the Gospel of Mark, you realize there's this word that comes up immediately. Jesus was on a mission to get to Jerusalem. He also, even though he was very busy, did he not take time to go away and pray? Whether it was on a mountainside or in a boat or maybe when he had to make a big decision, as he was about to choose disciples, Jesus prayed he would walk away, to be by himself, to reflect. And even though he was very busy, he also took time to rest, as it says in Mark 6. He modeled Sabbath and the rhythms of it all recently studied. But he also sometimes left enough space to be interrupted. For instance, when the woman with the issue of blood. Or maybe when he healed the young man, the widow of Nain's son. And looking at everything that he did, he looked with an eternal impact. So, what are your priorities?  

Being intentional will give you more freedom to be generous with your time. Being intentional with your time will give you more freedom to be generous with your time. What do I mean by that? How do you go about your day? Have you ever gone through your day not being intentional and you realize you have 10 different things? And at the end of the day, how do you feel? Frazzled. Right. I feel like I did not accomplish anything. And so I want to share with you some things, some tips and ideas. How can I be more intentional about my time? So what are your priorities? How do you want to accomplish them? Do you want to become fit? Do you want to eat healthier? Is there a career goal that you want to accomplish? What do you want to do and accomplish as a family? And have you written these things down?  

I say write down what you need to accomplish the night before. Why should you do that? Because when you write something down, you're telling yourself you're committing to this act, this priority, right? It's not like, oh, I just. I forgot. No, I wrote it down. And in a sense, it keeps us accountable. Likewise, though, okay, write three things down that you need to accomplish the next day.  

And then at the end of the day, write down what you have accomplished that day. And why should we do that? Acknowledge the wins. Okay? Maybe the first thing to do that you want to accomplish that day is make your bed. All right? Make your bed. And even if you have a horrible day, you know that you have a well made bed that you can go to later that night to get a night's rest. Amen. Okay. Something so simple yet can be a big win. Start off your day with the win by making your bed, as Admiral McRaven once said. Think about the wins, though. Have you ever gone through a period of time where you felt like you didn't accomplish anything? And maybe you have big, lofty goals, and that's great. But acknowledge also that you can't have big wins without the little steps, the little things along the way? And so you know, when you've ever accomplished something really big, you also look back. It wasn't just that win. It was small steps every single day that help you accomplish that task. What are you doing not just personally, but also as a family to accomplish in your life. Are you writing things down? Do you have a schedule as a family? I gotta take the kids here, we gotta do this, we gotta do that, gotta get the kids to school, we gotta leave by this time, etc. Etc. Etc. What are you focusing on? So write down what you need to do the night before.  

There's also been said that the 80/20 rule. You know what the 80/20 rule is? 80% of what you accomplish is basically 20% of what you focus on. Or vice versa. Being intentional will reap 80%. For instance, I've shared this before. When it comes to eating healthy, eat at least 80% healthy. That leaves you three meals in the week, all right? Three meals. You can choose to not go crazy, but have a little fun. Maybe throw some ice cream in there, maybe get some delicious fries. Whatever it be, allow some latitude, but perhaps also give yourself some space. Microsoft realized that 20% or 80% of their errors was attributed to 20% of the bugs that was in their system. A company also might find that 20% of its products generate 80% of its revenue. So what did they do? They focused and prioritized those products. And lastly, maybe to be a little bit more productive is the two minute rule.  

Do you know what the two minute rule is? If it takes you two minutes, just get it done right then, okay? Don't worry about it. Don't put it off. If it takes two minutes. My problem is, instead of it taking it two minutes, it takes five or 10 minutes. If I see a piece of trash out there, you would think, oh, it takes two minutes. But then you know what I also find? I find other stuff and next thing I know, I'm cleaning up the whole street, right? But be intentional. If it takes two minutes, just knock it out right then. And guess what? You can feel like you accomplished something that day with your time. Amen. So be intentional.  

I'd like to go to Colossians, chapter three. Colossians, chapter three. And I want to read verse 15, Verse 15. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be what thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with wisdom, with psalms, with hymns and songs from the Spirit singing to God with gratitude. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Let's also jump down to verse 23 again. Whatever you do work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  

What is your aim and purpose in life? I think right there is a good answer. And our purpose is of course, to love and to care for one another, to serve one another, but more most importantly, to serve God. How do you serve your family? How do you serve your spouse, your children? How do you honor your parents? Do you have enough time to do so or are you just trying to get by? And I want to encourage if you have not set aside time to prioritize, even just a little prioritization can help you relieve the burden and stress you may be experiencing. Some of you may say, I don't even have time to serve God. I had an argument. I don't want to call it an argument because it wasn't really an argument. But I was talking with a friend of mine, this is like 10, 15 years ago. And I just said, hey, let's work out. It's like I don't have time, not even for an hour, not even for 10 minutes, not even for five minutes to go for a quick walk. What it came down to is it wasn't a priority to him. And what you do shows what your priorities are. What are you prioritizing in your life? Is it to prioritize your family, your health, God, your career objectives, whatever it may be? May it be through the lens of Christ. May you honor God with your time and may you care and love your family, be present, live generously, and be a steward with your time by being present in your family's lives. We only have so much time and at the end of the day, do you want to be wishing I could have had just one extra minute, or do you want to just simply be able to be at rest and know that you have been faithful to God's calling? That is my question for you all.  

Reflection. What is the biggest distraction that causes you to mismanage your time? Okay. What is the biggest distraction that causes you to mismanage your time this week? Oh, I'm going to give you some homework. Do a time audit. How do you spend your time? How much time do you sleep? How much time do you work? Or if you're a child, how much time do you play? Do your homework? How much time do you drive? How much time do you eat? How much time do you doom scroll on your phone? How much time do you stream on your phone. Mmm. And afterwards, re evaluate personally. Okay. Personally and as a family, how you want to spend your time. And with that, create a plan based on the results to help you be more effective and generous with your time. When you have time, sometimes it means working hard at first so that you can have time to either play or to have an unexpected opportunity to minister. You know, many times that I've had an opportunity to share something with somebody about the Lord has never, hardly ever been planned. And just as Jesus did allow time for interruptions. May God bless you and be with you.  

Lord, help us to be faithful with our time. Lead and guide us. Help us to show. Show us the way where you want us to go and to fulfill that purpose. In Jesus name, Amen.