10 INSPIRING BIBLE VERSES ON WISE USE OF TIME

IVIE IKECHUKWUMay 31, 2021

Time is very critical to fulfilling your purpose on earth. For instance, in the bible, Jesus and the apostle Paul talked about doing the will of God and to finish it. They were conscious of their purpose during their earthly walk and used their time to fulfill it. Be conscious of yours too while you still have time to accomplish your work.

“Jesus said, my food is to do the pleasure of him who sent me and to make his work complete;
“I have fought long and hard for my Lord, and through it all, I have kept true to him. And now the time has come for me to stop fighting and rest” (2 Tim 4:7-TLB).

When you are not cognizant of the fact that life is transient, you may not live purposefully, or finish the work God has planned for you. It means time is essential to fulfilling your purpose on earth. Just as there is a time to be born, there is also a time to die. For the length of days you have to spend on earth, use your time wisely to fulfill your purpose and make a meaningful impact. When time is up, there will be no more room to make inputs, bless or contribute to a cause.

10 INSPIRING SCRIPTURES ON THE WISE USE OF TIME
1. “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Eccle 3:1-KJV).

2. “Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise; Making good use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16-BBE).

3.“God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near” (Rev 1:3-NLT).

4. “Carrying out orders won't hurt you a bit; the wise person obeys promptly and accurately. Yes, there's a right time and way for everything, even though, unfortunately, we miss it for the most part” (Eccl 8:5-6-MSG).

5. “I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time” (Eccl 9:11-NLT).

6. “You would say, Four months from now is the time of the grain-cutting. Take a look, I say to you, at the fields; they are even now white for cutting. He who does the cutting now has his reward; he is getting together fruit for eternal life, so that he who did the planting and he who gets in the grain may have joy together” (John 4:35-36-BBE).

7. “All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end” (John 9:4-TLB).

8. Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. (Ps 90:12-TLB).

9. “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath” (NLT- Ps 39:4, 5b).

10. “Whatever you do, do well, for in death, where you are going, there is no working or planning, or knowing, or understanding” (Eccl 9:10)

Bible verses to read when you are discouraged: https://www.inspirationfordailyliving.com/2021/08/bible-verses-to-help-you-overcome.html?m=1

Bible verses to read when you are faced with rejection
https://www.inspirationfordailyliving.com/2022/05/how-to-deal-with-rejection-with-bible.html?m=1

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https://www.inspirationfordailyliving.com/?m=1

God bless you! Live purposefully

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This time management no dey work for Africa.

Procrastination is the action of delaying or putting off something that should be done or requires immediate attention. It also implies blameworthy delay, especially through laziness or apathy. Apart from laziness or apathy, some common reasons people procrastinate as shown by research include lack of motivation, indecision, indiscipline, perfectionism, laborious task and poor time management. Procrastination reflects in different forms such as in academic settings, at the offices and business places and even at home with simple and basic domestic chores. Procrastination is also reflected in people’s faith and worship of God as can be seen in certain phrases such as: “I will read my bible later”, “I will give my life to Christ soon not today”, “I will be more fervent next year”, I will be more deliberate in using my gifts very soon etc.

During my college days, assignments were given in one of my courses and the submission date was slated for four weeks. I said to myself four weeks is a long time, I will attend to the assignments later, without recourse to a set or definite timeline to commence the assignments. The lecturer who slated four weeks for submission knew it would require research and that length of time to get it done. I kept telling myself I will do it, I still have time, and so two weeks passed and three weeks passed as well, I felt I still had time. Suddenly, it dawned on me a day before the submission date that I had an assignment to submit the next day. I began to run helter-skelter to save the day and still do a well-researched term paper. However, the time to get it thoroughly done has passed because I kept procrastinating. Fascinatingly, I was not caught alone in this web as some other colleagues had also tolled the same path of procrastination and were trying to catch up with meeting the deadline for submission. I was in the faculty of sciences at the time and a friend of mine in the faculty of Engineering then asked a pertinent question, when was this assignment given? I replied four weeks ago and he marveled why I was about it just the day before submission. Many times, that is the way we treat our goals and dreams. We imagine tomorrow is a long time enough to achieve the things we need to do today and keep deferring implementing them.

Procrastination will prevent you from achieving your life purpose and desired dreams. You may have set certain goals and dreams that are achievable, but procrastination makes you think you can always achieve them at a later time without setting a specific time for their commencement. The goal is not time-bound and as a result, many people do not fulfill their dreams or they achieve their goals later than they should. For instance, people set goals in the wake of a new year and even write same in a diary, but no specific time allotted to these plans, it remains as wishlist not because they are not actionable but because in the mind of the goal setter, he makes excuse to execute them at a later time. Procrastination is subtle laziness, when you don’t act when you should, there is no result or productivity and the fulfillment you should derive from meeting your set goals.

Don’t shift the tasks you can do today to the morrow or a later time, tomorrow has its own goals and actions too; take the course now if you need to, commence the project, write the book, preach the gospel etc. Fulfill your dreams and whatever task you have determined to do, delay no further but act now.

In conclusion, proverbs (see reference below text) shows the outcome of a lazy man and one that lacks judgment.

“I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Prov 24:31-31-NIV).

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Thank you for reading. Act now and delay no further!




PROCASTINATION