Time.....

I had a couple of clergy friends come to Centerville on Monday for a vist. They came for a couple of different reasons; the most important of which was so they could spend some time getting to know the new place I'm living in and the church I am newly appointed to. By the way, they both approve of the town of Centerville and of Centerville UMC! I'm delighted that my friends would choose to take the time out of their busy schedules and make the trip from "up north" to share time with me. We also got some sermon planning done on Monday, but in retrospect, that was the "bonus points" that came from their visit. The most important thing was their concrete way of saying by their presence here in Centerville that, "These relationships are important to me and because of that importance, I'm willing to invest my time and energy."

Time is a valuable resource in our lives; a resource we have choices about. Certainly many of us have parts of our days and time chosen for us; we need to spend a certain amount of time at our jobs, eating, sleeping, exercising, resting and doing other kinds of self care activities, but after we take care of the necessities of living, we often have choices about the ways we spend out time. The question then becomes, how are we going to spend our time? In ways that our uplifting, purposeful, and relationship oriented or in ways that might not be as helpful to our own lives and the lives of the people around us?

We are disciples of Christ; called to live out our joy and gratitude for the great blessings of the gift of the gospel in ways that show our thanks and appreciation to God. We show our gratitude in many ways; by attending worship, by our daily devotionals and prayer time, by our work and giving in mission, and by our willingness to be a good neighbor. Our time becomes an important consideration when we choose ways of expressing our graditude to God.

The ways we choose to use our time reflect our dedication and love for God. How are you spending your time today?

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

In what ways are we showing to God our gratitude for the gift of time?