The quality of a person’s leadership will be in part measured by time: its use and its passage. The character and career of a young person depends on how he or she spends spare time.
The way we employ the surplus hours, after provision has been made for work, meals, and sleep, will determine if we develop into mediocre or powerful people. Leisure is a glorious opportunity and a subtle danger. A discretionary hour can be wisely invested or foolishly wasted. Each moment of the day is a gift from God that deserves care, for by any measure, our time is short and the work is great.
Hours and days will surely pass, but we can direct them purposefully and productively. Philosopher William James affirmed that the best use of one’s life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. Life’s value is not its duration but its donation—not how long we live but how fully and how well.
A leader will seldom say, “I don’t have the time.” Such an excuse is usually the refuge of a small-minded and inefficient person. Each of us has the time to do the whole will of God for our lives.
J. H. Jowett said: I think one of the cant phrases of our day is the familiar one by which we express our permanent want of time. We repeat it so often that by the very repetition we have deceived ourselves into believing it. It is never the supremely busy men who have no time. So compact and systematic is the regulation of their day that whenever you make a demand on them, they seem to find additional corners to offer for unselfish service. I confess as a minister, that the men to whom I most hopefully look for additional service are the busiest men.
Our problem is not too little time but making better use of the time we have. Each of us has as much time as anyone else. The president of the United States has the same twenty-four hours as we. Others may surpass our abilities, influence, or money, but no one has more time.
We are not responsible for our endowments or natural abilities, but we are responsible for the strategic use of time.
When Paul urged the Ephesians to “redeem” the time (see 5:16 KJV), he was treating time like purchasing power.
Herein lies the importance of a carefully planned life: “If we progress in the economy of time, we are learning to live. If we fail here, we fail everywhere.”
A day needs careful planning. The person who wants to excel must select and reject, then concentrate on the most important items.
Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (J.Oswald Sanders)
