Family Devotion: Week of October 13
Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Devotion:
“We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.” – John F. Kennedy
Take a wild guess how many hours a day the average person spends their free time on a screen. 2? 3? 4? Try 7.
Seven. Hours. A Day.
That’s about 3 ½ months a year.
If you live the average life of 78 years, that ends up being around 22 years of your life spent on a device…yikes!
Time is the most precious resource we have. You can’t make more of it. You can’t get it back, and we really don’t know how much time we have left. This is why it’s important to use our time wisely!
“Making the best use of the time….”
When we put our time into things that serve others or grow ourselves, we are not “spending” our time but “investing” our time. An “investment” is something that grows to something bigger than what you have put in. Think of a small seed to an apple tree. A wise use of a seed is to plant it, water it, fertilize it, and protect it. Then, after the hard work and dedication of cultivating that seed, you’ll get to enjoy the sweet taste of the apples you worked hard for. Don’t let the seed sit on the shelf for “well, one day I will.” The only things that grow without effort are weeds.
The “best use of our time” can look different to each of us. For some, it could look like putting down the PlayStation controller and grabbing your Bible. To a parent out there, it could look like your family gathered around a board game instead of doom-scrolling social media. Maybe it might even look like finally pushing past our comfort zone and sharing the Gospel with a friend.
We can either plant our time or waste our time.
So let’s go and plant!
Challenge:
Go dust off the book that you’ve been meaning to read. Go outside and enjoy God’s creation. Volunteer to help clean up after Sunday School. Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. Go sit in your room and talk to God. Do some push ups. Draw your mom a sweet picture. Do something that invests your time into growing you and someone else. More time isn’t the answer, making the best use of our time is.
“The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, the second best time is now.” – Unknown
Questions:
- If you had all of the time in the world, what would you do?
- What is something you spend time doing everyday that you know isn’t really helping you or helping others?
- What do you want to start doing today to make better use of your time?
