In the first installment of this series, I described the slippery slope of having too much and too little to do. But when you’ve found this balance, what do you do with the free time that you have? This is just as perplexing a matter as finding the time to rest. I hope that I can give some insight into making wise decisions.

I think part of our problem of not knowing what to do with our free time lies with our attitude towards that time. We call it “free time,” and that is a very telling name. We view it as time with no commitments, time we can use as we please. Having this attitude of independence, we heed no instruction concerning how we use this time. We defend this “free time” vigorously, doing almost anything to preserve it.

I think that my father was on to something when he decided to stop calling it free time and use the term “discretionary time” instead. Removing (or at least deemphasizing) the entitlement aspect of free time, this term nurtures a more biblical understanding of time management. For the sake of ease I will continue to call discretionary time “free time” in this article, but please remember what I mean.

There is a great song by Mark Shultz named “1,000 Miles” that I have been listening to recently.  It talks about how he would walk 1,000 miles, a gruelling trip, just to be with God.  It has a really profound message - he wants to be with God so much that he would go through something really hard just to be with him.  It is one of my favorite songs for that reason.

But if you think about it, wouldn’t each one of us, if presented with the chance, walk 1,000 if we knew that God was waiting at the end of the road?  I’m sure that the motivation of being close to our Creator would carry us past the temporary troubles of sore feet and tired legs, and help us to put our heads down and strive toward the finish.

If we got off the straight path that was laid out for us to travel, do you think that we would intentionally wander even farther off, until we didn’t even know where the original path was?  No!  As soon as we found ourselves off the right track, we would do everything within our power to get back on it, no matter how scratched and bruised we got in the process.  Nothing would get in the way of our reaching the final goal.

Time management is something we all struggle with. It is something that God has put on my heart lately, and so I thought I’d write a few posts about it. I’m hoping that this will be the first in a series on godly time management.
The Slippery Slope
Peacemaker Ministries in their description of conflict management uses the illustration of a slippery slope. At either end are the two extremes, murder and suicide, and in the middle is the most godly option, mediation. They use this analogy because it is extremely hard to consistently turn to that middle part of the slope, the godly part. I think that this concept can be applied to many things other than just conflict. One of these is time management.

The Slippery Slope of Time Management has the same layout as the Peacemaker’s Slope. At one end of the spectrum is the extreme of being totally sluggardly, while the extreme of completely over-scheduling yourself is at the other end. In the middle is the ever-elusive middle ground of the godly balance between having too much and too little to do.

I’ve heard a lot of sermons and read a lot of articles lately about evangelism and everything mixed up with it.  Some people say that we should all be out on the street handing out tracts as often as possible, while others think that we should just lead quiet lives and set good examples for our neighbors.  I’m not going to side with either of these views in this article, but I’d like to give you a basic overview of both sides of the issue.
The Two Views
The most important place to look for answers and insight is the Bible.  Who would be better to look to besides the Creator of the universe Himself?

Take a look at Matthew 28:16-20 with me.  It says this: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  This is what many call “the Great Commission”, and most actively evangelical Christians use it as a reason for their work.  It’s hard to get past those words: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”  Is this definite proof that we should all go “make disciples of all nations”, or was Jesus only addressing the Apostles?  There are reasons for both sides, which I will mention below.