Response to "Redeeming the Time" by Rick Grubbs

This past week I have read a booklet by Rick Grubbs called, “Redeeming the Time.” (Grubbs, 2007) Grubbs begins by quoting Ephesians 5:15, 16, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” He then defines the terms of “redeem” and “time.”  He explains “redeem” as rescuing something from going to waste. He used Benjamin Franklin’s words for the definition of time, “Do you love life? Then don’t waste your time. Because that’s what life is made of.” Grubbs then points out a trick the devil uses to desensitize us to wasting time. Satan wants us to live as if there is not a difference between our time and our life. If he can get us to frequently waste moments, those moments add up to be hours. If we waste hours, those hours turn into wasted days. A wasted life is only a life that wasted its time.

The Bible says our time on earth is limited, and we will die and then be judged. Psalms 90 gives us the expectation of a 70-80 year life span. Grubbs asks the reader to realize the shortness of 70 years.

He tells a fable about a young man who had a close encounter with death. As Death was passing this man by, Death said that he would give him a warning before coming the last time. The man did not recognize the symptoms that he was getting old for what they really were, the warnings Death had promised.   

Grubbs explains how the way we use our time will have eternal ramifications. We will reap the fruit in eternity of the way that we lived on Earth. He clarifies how long eternity is by describing the number, ten duotrigintillion, which is a one followed by 100 zeros. If eternity is forever, then ten duotrigintillion is just the start. Since we will exist in Heaven or Hell for that long, based entirely on the choices we make on earth, we must be very serious about the way we live. Heaven will be glorious for the person redeemed by Christ’s blood. All the problems faced on earth will seem so small. We will worship Jesus endlessly.

Grubbs pointed out that on the other hand, if someone has not trusted in Christ for salvation, he will spend eternity in Hell. This prompts the question on page 32, “What does it mean for a soul to be lost, without hope, and without God for ten duotrigintillion years?” The Bible describes Hell as a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48); a furnace (Matt. 13:42) of torment, flame, and separation (Luke 16: 22-26). Grubbs beckons the reader to imagine the horror of burning alive for just ten years. Eternity will be over 1 ¹⁰⁰ years. He quotes a British skeptic to have said to a Christian, “You Christians don’t really believe your Bible. If I believed for one moment that there was a place as horrible as Jesus describes hell as being, I would get on my hands and knees and crawl over broken glass all the way across my country to warn one person. But I don’t see you Christians doing that.” Grubbs proposes that telling the lost world of the saving grace of Jesus is the most valuable use of our time.

Grubbs then reminds the reader that it is impossible to regain wasted time. He encourages viewing how much of life remains instead of what is past. It is possible to replenish money or resources, but time is not renewable. On page 38, he says, “Time is our most valuable earthly possession.”

Grubbs reminds us that we must give account for the way we use our time.

Grubbs then offered three practical ways we can redeem the time. The first is to “learn how to wake up and get up.” He gives the tools that he has used to abolish the time waster of over sleeping. He encourages the reader to get up fifteen minutes earlier than normal to spend time with Jesus. The second way to redeem time is to get organized. One tool he recommends is a pocket organizer.  He defines organization (p.51) as, “Arranging my life so that God can use me to my fullest potential.” The third way is to get rid of time wasters. How can you tell a time waster? He offers two questions for you to ask yourself on page 55. “What will be the fruit of this activity in five years?” and “What will be the fruit of this activity in eternity?” The only activities that last into eternity are those done for Christ. God, the Bible, and souls are eternal.  

Grubbs offered a cure to procrastination on page 63; answering and preforming the answer to the question, “What does God want me to do right now?”

The three things that stood out to me most are:

-Wasting time is wasting life
-Eternity: its hugeness and consequences, and therefore my responsibilities.
-The question, what will be the fruit of this activity in five years, in eternity?

The first subject I found to convict me is on pages 9 and 10. A wasted life is formed by wasted moments. I waste moments easily. When I am not productive for a few hours, I realize I am wasting time. When I use minutes unwisely, I do not feel condemned. I want the Lord’s help in redeeming these minutes. I want the Lord to judge all my moments effective. 

The issue I found most arresting is eternity. I have not had a realistic view of Heaven and Hell’s duration. My life span is tiny compared to forever. I only have a short time to fulfill God’s purpose for my life. What I do right now will have eternal consequences.  The British skeptic’s statement convicted me, making me realize that I know people who are going to Hell. They have a horrible forever in front of them, yet I have told few about the gospel.  I work at a retail store and I see many people a day. When I see someone, I do not consider his or her eternal existence; I only think of their project. I have felt hesitant to talk to people about their souls. After reading this book, I have surrendered to God my attitude toward the opportunities He gives me. I want to make Christ known everywhere I am, because the gospel has positive eternal consequences.

This leads to the third area that stood out to me; the two questions of an activity’s fruit. I will use these questions to evaluate my activities.

Some necessary activities seem not to have long-term fruit. For example, doing dishes and vacuuming are not tasks I will remember doing five years from now. If I look at the big picture though, I see that helping my family does have lasting effects. 

 

After reading through the “Redeeming the Time” book, I commit to the following actions:

-          I must become completely willing to speak for Christ.

-          I must learn to think quickly.

-          I must quickly obey God’s leading in my future jobs, relationships, marriage, etc.

-          I must live as an ambassador of Christ, representing Him to everyone I meet.

-          I must identify and eliminate time wasters in my life.

-          I must consider each activity’s eternal importance, and do only what will make a lasting difference.

-          I must be accountable to someone trustworthy.

-          I must change my concept of eternity to God’s concept.                          

-          I must put others’ needs ahead of my desires.       

-          I must live a faithful life, without sin, filled with Jesus, so that I can go to Heaven.

-          I must invest time in those God has given me.

-          I must habitually realize the horror of Hell, and the duration of forever.

-          I must constantly be a courageous witness of God’s salvation to my family, friends, coworkers, and customers.

-          I must operate in the mindset that Jesus died for the world to be saved.

-          I must view my life according to the time I have remaining.

-          I must guard my time more diligently than I guard money.

-          I must view the issue of sleeping late as seriously as God sees it.

-          I must not let my illogical early morning thoughts, nor my lazy bones, control my life.

-          I must give high priority to God’s Word and prayer.

-          I must live ready to speak for Christ.

-          I must not try to store everything in my mind. I must record thoughts , responsibilities, and tasks on computer or paper, so my mind will be freed up from having to remember everything.

-          I must arrange my life so that God can use me to my fullest potential by promising to do only what I can do, and by living on schedule.

Personal Study Habits

 I am taking six credit hours of college courses from God's Bible School and College through their Aldersgate Distance Education Program.  ADEP’s website is http://www.gbs.edu/adep. One of the classes I am taking is Time Management. For this week’s assignment, I have read some articles online on the subject of how to study effectively in my college work. In this blog post, I will mention the methods that I will incorporate into my lifestyle. I must make these methods to be habitual in my life.

First, I will outline two of the articles I have read. Then, I will explain them. At the bottom of this post is the links of the respective web sites.

Article: Overcome Inertia and Get the Really Important Things Done by Odette Pollar. (Pollar, 2010)

1)      Recognize procrastination and identify cause

a)      Is fear the cause?

i)        Fear of failing

ii)       Fear of men

b)      Is mismanagement the cause?

i)        Failure to assess requirement of the activity (time, energy)

ii)       Failure to determine if activity matched life goals

2)      Apply corrective action.

a)      Use fears as growth opportunities

b)      Use wisdom in choosing new activities

Article: Improving Your Note Taking from EducationAtlas.com, (EducationAtlas, 2010)

1)      Apply excellent practices in note taking.

a)      Write notes accurately

b)      Be aware of material to be covered

c)       Compare notes with other students

d)      Minimize distractions

e)      Keep your notes in order

i)        Orderly words

ii)       Orderly papers

f)       Use abbreviations appropriately

g)      Leave room around new ideas

h)      Review your notes often

i)        Record questions and ask teacher

From this point in my life, forward, I want to be very careful of procrastination. I am going to search for procrastination both in my life currently and in the temptations of the future.

 Pollar (Pollar, 2010) says that fear can cause procrastination. I can testify to the hindrances of both the fear of failing at my responsibility and the fear of what people will think of me. God has and I know will continue to stretch me into a mature man glorifying to Him. He can use the challenging circumstances I am in to prepare me for what is ahead. Fear is not the only cause for procrastination though; Pollar (Pollar, 2010) also says that laziness in our planning can trigger this problem. When I start a new endeavor and I fail to look ahead at the requirements for my time and energy it touts, I cause myself a trap. I must learn to consider my activities in the constraint of my current schedule and my life goals. Anything that does not fit will only hinder me.

More scholastically sensitive is the second article on excellent note taking practices (EducationAtlas, 2010).  In accordance to the wise advice of the writer on EducationAtlas.com, I will put these methods into habit.

In order to be able to review and understand my notes I must write my notes accurately with good spelling and form. I have been frustrated before when I wrote down a note quickly, and was not able to read it because I did not take time to make it readable.

I must if possible have an overview of what material I need to learn so that I can plan for recording the most important parts.

With my learning style, I need to be careful to minimize distractions around me. Whether it is a noisy room, a fly, or an interesting email, if I need to be studying and taking notes about something, it will be a determent to my concentration. Along this same line is the potential distraction unorganized notes can be. Whether the form of the words or points in my notes is chaotic, or if the papers I need are not where I need them to be, disorganization can waste time.

There are also tools that are helpful like using abbreviations appropriately to save time and leaving paper space around new ideas for further.

I find it very necessary to implement a habit in my studies of reviewing my notes often, and recording questions I find to ask my teacher.

Works Cited

Pollar, O. (2010). Overcome Inertia and Get the Really Important Things Done. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from Day-Timer USA: http://www.daytimer.com/Time-Management-Resources/Overcome-Inertia-and-Get-the-Really-Important-Things-Done/1172516828874FE197440FCA336D842B/False

EducationAtlas. (2010). Improving Your Note Taking. Retrieved September 8, 2010, from EducationAtlas.com: http://www.educationatlas.com/taking-notes-in-class.html

Charles E. Hummel book: "Tyranny of the Urgent"

   I have recently read a booklet by Charles E. Hummel called “Tyranny of the Urgent” (1994, InterVarstiy Press). This is an overview of his book and my personal application of it to my life.

Hummel begins his book by probing for the root problem for unwise use of time in our life. He identifies outright that the problem is wrong priorities. Further, I believe, he implies that the problem is also a lack of diligence in management of our time.

   When we do not have the correct priorities, we do what other people want us to do, what we feel like doing, and the actions we see as urgent, instead of the important assignments that God gives us to accomplish.

Hummel believes that our priorities should be alined with Jesus' priorities revealed in the Bible. Christ's priority was to do His Father's will, even when it conflicted with the urgent demands of His friends. Even though there were still many suffering people around Him at the end of His life, Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:4, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” He knew that He had finished the work that God had given Him, because He made it a practice to spend much time in prayer to the Father, receiving the Father's instructions day by day (Mark 1:35), and He did only what His Father said to do.

   It is so important for us to know the will of God in regards to our time. If Christ depended on His Father for instruction and direction, how much more do we also need to depend on God.

   We can gain God's perspective by reading His word, and by praying. Hummel says (p.13), “...the root of all sin is self-sufficiency—independence from the rule of God.” If we do not rely on God's guidance, then we are saying that we do not need Him, and this is sin. In order to be on the right track, we must spend time with God, and let His will become ours.

   Spending time can be a lot like spending money. Jesus, in His parables, instructs us that we must be good stewards of what He has given us. It says in Luke 12:48, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.” Just as it is easy to spend money unwisely for impressive looking items that we don't really need, Hummel says on page 17 that we can do the same with our time, “We spend hours on the impulse of an unexpected opportunity or demand.”

   We as people do what is important to us. When we say that we do not have the time to do something, it is because we find something else more important for which to use that time. The things we do, we don't do because we have time available, we do them because we choose to.

   The first action we must take to begin using time wisely is to decide what things are most important to us.
   God has put each person in different circumstances, so each person must as Hummel says, “consider the basic components of a productive Christian life and prayerfully set specific goals” (p.18). Is it relationships (with God, our family, or friends) that matter to us, or is it our work, or hobbies? Hummel recommends that we make a list of the things that matter most to us and estimate how much time each week each thing will take.

   He also says that we must find out how we are currently spending our time. It is easy to waste time without realizing it, so if we record what every 30 minutes' activity is, we see where we are not doing the things that are important.

   We must carefully and slowly change our lifestyle so that we will not fail and become discouraged. We must start from where we are and change only a few things at once. Hummel writes on page 23, “Consider one high-priority for which more time needs to be budgeted. Then make the hard decision as to what activity must be cut back, if not eliminated, to free up those required extra hours.” He also points out the importance of spending time in the word of God.

   It is very crucial to not give up in our efforts to replace the wasted time with important activities. We must set aside time to listen to God's will and take inventory of our spiritual lives (p.27). Nothing is too urgent enough to keep us from planning what our lives need to be.

Personal Application:

   One part that has affected me is Hummel's advice to take the time to listen to God. We can even try to do good things, but if He has not ordained us to do them we had better not do them. God is faithful and all-knowing, if we listen to His plan, we will not be slaves to the urgent. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” It may seem to be a waste to spend time seeking God's face in that we don't get physical work done, but God has given us this promise that if we do seek His face, He will supply all the needs of our life (Matthew 6).

Hummel's practical advice really helped me. After the advice to decide what is important, to find out how I am now using my time, and to then make a budget of the activities that I need to spend my time on, he cautioned that I change my lifestyle one item at a time so that I do not become overwhelmed. 

   The first area that I believe God considers important for me is first my relationship with Him. I must keep this first place. If my job, school, or pleasures crowd out Jesus, I will loose the precious fellowship I have Him, and lose my soul! I commit to having devotions and prayer every day to keep from walking away from God. I also want to do as Hummel mentioned (p.27), and weekly seek God's face to see if I have been walking in His plan, and what His plan is for the next week. I desire that the Lord help me to continually have my mind stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3) and His will for me.

   The second area is in my relationship with my family. God had given me my family for a very special reason. In my current place in life, they must take priority over friends. What this will look like is that I will spend time in fellowship in my family instead of friends.

   The third area that I believe God considers important for me is is evenly split between my job and my schooling. My job because God has blessed me with it and in it, and I have committed myself to my boss until I start school full time. My schooling, because it will prepare me for the next step in God's plan for my life, and I am already committed too deeply to give it a half-hearted attempt.

   I am have started to and will continue to record my activities to discover how I am now spending my time, so that I can find the activities that I need to avoid. One of the easiest ways I waste time is that of doing things on impulse instead of by a plan. If I am not concentrating on one thing, I begin doing small urgent things, and never get the important things done.

What am I here for?--My current personal mission statement.

   In Philippians 3:8b-14, the apostle Paul expressed his personal mission statement: " ...that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (NKJV).    Just as Paul said, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected," and "I do not count myself to have apprehended," I confess that I have not yet met my goals. By God's grace, I desire to live by the following standards and plan that He has laid on my heart.

Realizing that:

• Without Jesus I can do nothing (John 15:5), and
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13),

and
Understanding that I am at my best when:

• I have a clear connection with the Holy Spirit
• I am in situations when I can help people and think creatively, and when
• I am not the only person responsible for leadership,

I purpose to walk according to the following plan:

• I will do my best not to let sin or discouragement interrupt my relationship with Jesus.
• I will strive to have knowledge, wisdom, and compassion so that I can be a blessing to everyone around me.
• I will seek to learn from the people God has put in my life.
• I will try to prevent becoming distracted from the main goal, or allowing frustrating circumstances to block my vision of the goal.
• I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can help people, and creatively think through problems.
• I will find enjoyment in my personal life by spending time with my family, talking with fellow Christians, reading the word of God, and taking time to have fun.
• I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as creative thinking, problem solving, and teaching.
• I will witness to what Christ has done on my behalf.

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

• 
  
  Passion for God, absolute surrender, attentiveness, boldness, contentment, and decisiveness.
• 
  
  Discretion, faith, gentleness, humility, love, and meekness.
• 
  
  Orderliness, self-control, sensitivity, truthfulness, and virtue.
• Love and faithfulness to God, my future wife, my family, and my friends.

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

• 
  
  Physical: I purpose to use my body to glorify God, to keep it healthy by eating wholesome food and exercising.
• 
  
  Spiritual: I purpose to live in complete surrender to the Lord, dedicating every moment to His glory, living in full fellowship with the Holy Spirit, being continually filled with His power.
• 
  
  Mental: Thinking only whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and praiseworthy. (Philppians 4:8)
• Social: Loving my family unselfishly, my friends faithfully, and everyone unconditionally.

My most important future contribution to others will be the gift I have received from God, and that is my life. I can share my life with others by spending time with them, imparting knowledge to them, and learning from them.

At the end of my life I desire that my wife, children, grandchildren, and the friends in whom I have trusted and confided will be able to glorify God and say that God has been my only Source and Strength, and that no one would applaud me.

In a nutshell:
My life is to be spent spreading the gospel of Jesus unto the uttermost part of the world for Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through me because of Christ's command to "be a witness for Him in all the earth".

The desired results of my mission will be:  
1. A wonderful, passionate, lifelong covenant with Jesus.
2. A home in heaven reserved by the blood of my Savior.
3. A host of people knowing God who otherwise would have plunged into eternity without God, being forever tormented by the lack of God's presence.