This document discusses principles of effective time management for Christians. It emphasizes that time belongs to God and we will be held accountable for how we use our time. It provides tips for prioritizing tasks by importance and urgency, identifying time wasters, and planning activities to make the best use of available time. Key aspects of time management include planning, setting goals, tracking time usage, and eliminating unnecessary activities. The example of Jesus prioritizing time with God and his disciples is given.

1. SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 5: 15 & 16a EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN TIME MANAGEMENT

2. STEWARDS OF WHAT? Body – Temple Talent Treasure Time “ Our time belongs to God, every moment is His and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than our time” Christ Object Lessons (p.342)

3. GOD TIME TALENT TEMPLE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS “Time is the measurement unit of life” “Time renders relevance”

4. Planning – what? how? Motivation – personal rewards Directing - implementation Monitoring – record keeping? Controlling – eliminating unfavourable variances, reinforcing favourable variances Communication/ Coordination “ More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent” “ The bad news is time flies. The good news is you are the pilot!” principles of time management

5. IMPORTANT AND URGENT Your relationship with God – Matthew 6:33 Family (Spouse and Children) - They will support or derail your relationship with God Ministry of God - Your talent? Health –Meals, Rest, Exercise, Pleasure Career, education & financial IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT Other relationships – friends etc NOT IMPORTANT BUT URGENT Latest gossip Fashion - appearance - Movies NOT IMPORTANT AND NOT URGENT Idleness (Proverbs 20:4-5) Loitering What do I do with my time?

6. On any task, draw an action plan “ The journey from objectives to success ” S PECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RESOURCE ORIENTED TIME BOUNDED! Identify time available “ Teach me to number my days….”Psalm 90:12 Insert “normal wastage”, contingency time for unpredictable interruptions Identify time wasting activities AND weed them out! Know when you’re most productive (morning, afternoon, evening) Fundamentals of effective time management

7. ILLUSTRATIONS THE BIG ROCKS If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. True? To be living as “wise-men” we need to schedule tasks and put “important & urgent first”

8. Jesus' example His priorities were: Time with God Dawn meetings with God Time with disciples Walking, eating, talking, eating, going to weddings, going to the synagogue to worship Time for ministry – preaching, teaching, healing (meeting the needs of “dying souls). Time for everything (planned!) – Remember Lazarus? It wasn’t time to go! Ecclesiastes 8:6 – There is an appointed time and procedure for everything!

9. God first in the day “ I have so much to do today, I couldn’t possibly do it all without three hours of prayer” – Martin Luther. Psalm 90:17 The Lord…Favour…Rest Upon…Establish…Work of our hands Think of the ministry of Christ? plan on the conduct of your God given duties Romans 8:28 Punctuality – sign of honour & relevance Numbers 9 (Especially verse 3) on timeliness “ The surest way to be late is to have plenty of time” GOD & OUR TIME

10. Time lost can never be regained Time is lost in smaller quantities Make good use of time in between major activities Procrastination is a thief of time “ A Wiseman does at once, what a fool does at last” “ A year from now, you will wish you had started” “ THE BEST TIME IS NOW” Don’t waste other’s time because time is wealth (Exodus 21:18 -20) – opportunity cost! “ Wait till you’ve missed your flight by 5 minutes” We will account for the use of every moment of time (Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14) ON LOST TIME