Have you ever thought about how you spend an average day? If you see the 24 hours in a day as 24 gold coins, time begins to have more value. Like a coin, we can spend each one. Unlike a coin, we cannot save it. We can spend it anyway we want, but we can only spend it once. No matter what we do with it, we are spending God’s gift to us; our life, our time.
I like comparing spending time to spending money. Maybe it is just me, but money seems more tangible. You can see it and touch it. Time is more intangible; easier to waste. It feels like we will never run out of it…but we know we will. The comparison makes the spending of time more real to me.
I also like thinking about each hour in the day as a “gold coin” that is God’s gift to me. I know many of my “gold coins” have been spent poorly. I spent them, but they created little or no value. In fact, some have simply been wasted; never to be available to spend again.
So how do I spend my hours? Let’s look at my average day.
8 hours spent sleeping
1 hour grooming and dressing
10 hours working (at home and on the job)
1 hour eating (3 meals added together)
4 hours free time
Some of our “gold coins” are spent sleeping. We cannot be at our best without restful sleep. However it is possible for us to not be rested by shortening our sleep hours or worrying so much our sleep becomes restless. We need to get our optimum sleep to reach our greatest potential for God. Are your sleeping hours “well spent” or are you restless, tossing and turning all night?
Think about the time you spend eating. Do you use that time to build your health by eat the right things? Do you spend that “coin” with family or friends? How do you get the best use of this time you will never see again?
Working is the area where you spend most of your “gold coins”; roughly 1/3 of all the “coins” you will ever spend. God had given you certain natural gifts and abilities. These are nurtured and become stronger as you mature. If you are a Christian, later in life He has given you spiritual gifts to use as part of the body of Christ. These gifts and abilities are in harmony with who God made you to be. Are you spending the “coins” in this category in harmony with these gifts and abilities?
For example, if you enjoy time alone and don’t have a great desire to work around people, you probably would not enjoy being a sales person. However, you might really enjoy being a truck driver. My father-in-law was a good example of this. He was a long-haul truck driver and was very happy having hours alone to pray and sing worship songs to his Heavenly Father. He also was given a passion for evangelism and had many opportunities to share his faith with other truck drivers at truck stops and rest stops during his long trips. His natural gifts and spiritual gifts were both “spent” well.
Solomon in Ecclesiastes summed up the purpose of man by saying a man should, “accept his lot and be happy in his work; this is a gift of God” (Ecc 5:19). Are you happy in your work? Is it fulfilling the types of things you are made to do? For example, I am very structured. In my working life I have been happy when allowed to create structure to relieve chaos. I have had jobs where chaos ruled. I did not enjoy them and quickly moved on. If you are not using the gifts God has given you in the area you are currently working in, consider a change to an area where you spend your “gold coins” in a work situation using what God has given you. You will be happier and also more productive in the Kingdom.
Obviously the most flexible hours are your free time. One of our granddaughters, now in her 20’s, made a statement when she was in her early teens that has echoed in my mind since then. She was commenting on how much time people spend watching TV and she said, “Why do people spend so much of their life watching other people live lives that are not even real?” That was definitely an “out of the mouth of babes” statement. TV can be a major consumer of your coins and a waster of time, if we let it. Are you spending your free time wisely?
We can spend our time in such a way as to do our part in the Kingdom or we can waste it. The detail is different for each of us and changes throughout our life. A young mother’s time is spent molding her children for their entry into the Kingdom. A business man is living out Christian principals in a fallen world. Both examples are “Salt and Light” to others around them. Whatever the situation is at the time, I believe we can clearly see if ours is a life well spent.
If you are over 25 you have spent about 30% of your expected “coins”. I you are over 40 you have spent more than 50%. I am probably spending my last 20%. Is your remaining time being invested well? Is there something you could change to help your “gold coins” have a better return on investment? Personally I love that challenging thought.
Writing this I have had a scripture passage come to mind; the Parable of the Talents. I feel the “talents” directly relate to the thought of how we spend our time. Do I invest it for the Kingdom or bury it? Will He say, “Good and faithful servant” to me?
Take a little time to think through how you spend your 24 hours each day; once they’re spent you will never get them back again. My prayer is that our “gold coins” are spent wisely, thoughtfully…investing them rather than letting them slip away carelessly. A life invested in worthy purposes is a life well spent versus one where the “gold coins” are squandered and wasted…treasure lost with no hope of return.
What is your “normal” day like? I challenge you to write it down and see for yourself. Ask yourself how many of your “gold coins” were spent well. It might surprise you. It did me.
Christian Life Coach 