There’s nothing like spending a sick day at home to force me to think about what I’m doing with my time. Being stuck on the sofa and watching time tick away, I quickly realized that there are only 168 hours in my week…and I’ve just lost an entire day! 

Basically, I’ve come to realization that I will NOT get done all that I set out to do this week. At first thought, this really ticked me off. I don’t have time to be sick. There’s so much to do, so much I want to do and being sick only hinders my accomplishments. So I’ve had to ask myself, “how do I redeem my time”?

The following principles help me to make the most of my week and allow me to see significant change over time:

1. There is a cumulative value in investing small amounts of time in one endeavor over time.

Less can actually mean more. Small investments of time will pay huge dividends over time. Think about it…it’s the consistent investments in your marriage, family, work, and exercise that will pay huge dividends as time goes by. On the contrary, a one time investment has no value. Trying to exercise for 4 hours to “catch-up” doesn’t do you any good. Neglecting your marriage and family week in and week out and then trying to make up for it on vacation is an act in futility. Remember, it’s the regular routine that make the difference. 

2. Neglect has a cumulative effect as well

It’s that lack of small, routine investments over time that causes marriages, families, and personal health to breakdown. This is why married couples wake up one day and realize that no longer know the person they are living with. It didn’t happen over night…it happened because they have neglected their marriage in small ways over time.

3. There are rarely any immediate consequences for neglecting single installments of a regular routine.

Missing one day of exercise or one date night with my spouse doesn’t really have an effect. I don’t feel disconnected from God by skipping my time in prayer for one day. There are no immediate consequences. The problem is that I find it easier to neglect my routine the next day as well. 

4. There is no cumulative value to the urgent things we allow to interfere with things that are important.

So often, I allow the urgent to get in the way of the important. As a pastor, there is always something “urgent” that is calling for my attention. So much so, that there are days that I get home and when my wife asks we what I did that day my only answer is, “I don’t know”. The problems is that there is little value in all the “I don’t know’s”. When I let the “urgent” overtake the “important”…I finish the day with nothing to show for it. When I neglect the “important”, I have regret.

5. In the critical arenas of life you cannot make up for lost time

I cannot make up for missed opportunities. When I miss what’s “important”, I cannot make it up tomorrow. Tomorrow will bring more “urgent” things to take the place of the “important”. When I neglect time with my family or skip exercising or “forget” to pray…the opportunity is lost forever. It can’t be make up. That is why I have to start each day fresh and with a renewed focus on what’s truly important. 

I must remember that God has numbered my days. He wants us to make the most out of each day.

Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Redeem the time by establishing regular routines. Redeem the time by making small investments in what’s important. Redeem the time by realizing that it’s not what I’m doing “now” but what I’ve been doing year in and year out…this is what makes the difference!