Scripture calls us repeatedly to be good stewards. God, the creator and owner of the whole universe, entrusts resources to man with the expectation of good management. There are many ways in which this is significant to human activity but, in this article, I will only deal with those applications that fall within the sphere of spiritual disciplines: stewardship of time and stewardship of money.

In order to avoid a long article, I decided to split this into two parts. Therefore, as you might have guessed, in part 1 I will address stewardship of time.

Perhaps the number one excuse for failing to practice spiritual disciplines is the lack of time. We are the generation that is busier than all previous generations. Right? Perhaps we are. Perhaps we are not. There are definitely more things to keep us busy than before but, usually, lack of time results from poor stewardship.  We just need to manage our time better.

Ephesians 5:15-16 warns us to “use time wisely because the days are evil.” If we are not wise, the socio-cultural climate that we live in often eats up all our time with useless activities.

Donald Whitney writes, “Great thieves of time serve as minions of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. They may range in form from high-tech, socially acceptable preoccupations to simple, idle talk or ungoverned thoughts. But the natural course of our minds, our bodies, our world, and our days leads us toward evil, not toward Christlikeness.”

He emphasizes just why discipline is so crucial in this area. The single most important goal for a good stewardship of time is to prepare for eternity. This is the time to make sure that we are saved. This is the time to gather treasures in heaven. Now is the time to prepare and to be ready.

Jesus often talked about the need to be ready for the time we come face to face with our maker. He said that the wise servant will be working diligently for his master so that he may be found worthy. Jesus did not just encouraged people to be converted but to continuously be involved in getting ready.

There are several reasons why you and I need to take this as seriously as possible.

Time is short and goes by fast

James writes, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (Jam 4:14). When we compare even 100 years (which is a very long life) with eternity, we understand that our life is indeed as nothing but a puff of smoke.

Time is like an hour glass. You have a certain number of sand grains in there which are quickly flowing through. You cannot add grains of sand and you cannot flip over the hour glass and start again. When the last grain has fallen through, your life is over.

You don’t know how much you have left

While the hour glass contains the exact number of sand grains God had placed in there, you do not know how much is in there. You only see the bottom half of this hour glass. You do not see how much is left. Every grain that falls through could be the last. And this is not something that happens in old age only. People of all ages die. Often time very unexpectedly. We do well to follow the advice given in Proverbs 27:1 which says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

Once spent, it is forever gone

Almost everything in this life can be regained and restored, at least to some degree. If you lost all your money, it is possible to make it all back. Perhaps even more than before. If your house was destroyed in a fire, you can build another one. If you have a bad kidney, you can (provided that you have a donor) get a healthy one.

But you cannot do this with time. All you can do is to use the remaining time as best as you can. In John 9:4, Jesus says, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” The time for godly living is now while it is day, while you still live on this earth.

You will be held accountable for your use of time

Romans 14:12 says “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Even if you are saved, it will matter a great deal how you used your time. 1 Cor 3:12-15 explains why that is.

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

We do not want to be the ones who just barely make it into heaven. We want to be richly rewarded. We want to hear God telling us, “well done good and faithful servant.” And for this we need to be good stewards of time. There may be many good things to do in this life but we do not have the time to be involved in all of them. We have to choose. We need to be deliberate and give priority to those things that have eternal significance and that ultimately bring glory to God.

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