Never enough time?

In our society today there are so many options for filling up our time, it is incredible.

The greatest demand on our time is our work, which dominates most of our life. There are then the demands of managing life (house maintenance, car maintenance, shopping, cooking, health maintenance). There never seems to be enough time one can dedicate to these things to complete them to one's satisfaction. And they never go away. Whatever you achieve, there is always more to do. It is endless.

Where, then, are the times for the important things? Where is time for God, for family, for feeding one's self? Where is the time required to spend doing and enjoying those things that are necessary for the soul, those things that make life worth living? And I'm not talking about entertainment, which is yet another stealer of time.

Are we doomed, in our fast-paced, ambitious society, to spend all of our time on the stuff of life necessary to run it and never have enough time for the stuff of life necessary to make it all worth while? I struggle with this question. I really do.

It may seem odd for one who is taking time to blog to talk about there never being enough time, but what I've learned (which is one of the reasons I've started this blog) is that the issue isn't one of there being enough time. The issue is that we make choices about how are spend our time that lead us into not having enough time for the important things.

Ephesians 5:16 says making the most of your time, because the days are evil. In our society today there are many time stealers, but it is up to us to decide where and how we spend it. Yes, we have to spend a certain amount of time working and managing life (food, housing, etc.). But what we do with the rest of our time is our choice.

Will we waste it on empty things or will we invest it in important things? Entertainment is great. I enjoy a good movie. But if we spend all of our time doing that, when will we spend time with God, with our spouses, with our children, with our friends? When will we be able to spend time to educate ourselves and smell the roses?

There is so much beauty in creation to enjoy, and many gifts God has given in the people around us. The ultimate gift is what He has given in Himself and His Son, Jesus Christ.

We should make sure we are investing enough of our time in what is important. There should be time to do what the psalmist said in Psalm 26:7: That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.