Voddie Baucham’s passing last week was a glorious sadness. Every indication is that his was a genuine faith in Christ, and so he now enjoys the presence of the Lord. At the same time, his still-vibrant ministry, his relative youth, and his leaving such a large family behind make his departure particularly sad.
While we use the phrase “untimely death,” from God’s perspective there is no such thing. Our days are numbered. Voddie Baucham’s life ended precisely on time…as will yours and mine. This warrants some reflection regarding how we are spending the hours.
That Paul calls for “redeeming the time” or “making the most of the time” assumes that all time is spent (Eph 5:16). Every moment is traded for something. It can’t really be saved up. Every second that passes by has been used as a kind of currency in exchange for...something. What have we gotten for it?
Further, we have a finite wallet of time. The psalmist prays, “…teach us to number our days…” (Psa 90:12). The prayer assumes that once it is gone, it is gone. Paul’s admonition assumes the same. If we had a infinite string of moments, there would be no reason to make the most of any one moment. We could live out a kind of ultimate temporal inflation—with an endless supply, the value of any one unit goes effectively to zero. With a fixed supply, the opposite is true—the value of any one unit is astronomical. “Teach us to number our days.” None of us knows how many we have, but the idea is to spend each one with the knowledge that it can’t be gotten back.
Our time must not be our own, if the Bible tells us how to use it. By directing us how to use time, the Lord asserts His lordship over our minutes, hours, and days. Therefore, we are stewards of His time. We tend to use the phrases, “our time,” “my time,” and “your time.” As stewards, we should think of these phrases differently than the world around us. My time is not my time in any ultimate sense. I am not free to do with time whatever I please. I answer to Another. Yet, I can call the minutes, hours, and days “my time” from the perspective that these are the moments the Master has entrusted to me. These particular increments of time are the ones for which I will answer, and therefore, I may consider them mine as a stewardship.
If we are stewards of time entrusted to us, what should guide our use of time? Again, the Bible gives commands in this. This assumes that the Lord’s priorities should govern our use of time. This is an inherent reality of stewardship. “…it is required of stewards that they be found faithful…” (1 Cor 4:2). The steward holds fast—is faithful—to the priorities of the Master.
One might think then that a steward of God’s time will only ever evangelize, pray, and read the Bible! Certainly, a good steward will devote time to building the kingdom; the good steward will seek this as a first priority (Matt 6:33-34). At the same time, the Word of God shows a broad and multi-faceted concern for our use of time. The Lord values many uses of time, including diligent work, sleep/rest, meaningful relationships, family time, frequent sexual relations within marriage, leisure, ceaseless prayer, and copious meditations (Pro 10:4-5; 3:24; Psa 127:2; Heb 10:24-25; Deut 6:4-9; 1 Cor 7:3-5; Eccl 3:1-8; 1 Th 5:17; Psa 1:2). A faithful steward of God's time will lead a full, productive, and enjoyable life!
The Bible indicates room for all these things in the priorities of God, but may not give us clear direction regarding how much time to spend on each. This is why wisdom is necessary—we must discern how best to spend the time we have. It is possible to spend our time wisely or to spend it foolishly. It is instructive how consistently the Scriptures attach the quality of wisdom to the use of time:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15–16
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Colossians 4:5
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise…
…she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Proverbs 6:6–8
Good stewardship may require ruling out certain worthless uses of time altogether. However, the wise use of time will often require keeping a keen eye on overspending in any one worthwhile category. Imagine a steward who is responsible for five tasks and who has the time to adequately see to all five. He must budget his minutes and hours. If he majors on four tasks to the exclusion of one, has he been faithful? The answer is obvious. God has given us the hours necessary to be faithful. Rest is good and necessary. However, we can’t afford inordinate rest as that takes from the finite time we have to see to our other responsibilitites. We must wisely allot time to all that is asked of us.
What questions might we ask ourselves regularly to wisely steward time?
Every moment of the last day has been spent—what have I purchased?
Have I spent the hours like someone aware that my days are numbered?
Have I spent the hours as one who will give an account for them?
Have I stewarded the hours in accordance with my Master’s priorities?
Have I wisely allotted the minutes to each of my areas of responsibility?
What can we pray regarding our use of time?
We can confess and seek forgiveness for failures in stewardship.
We can ask for hearts that adore our Master and so desire to honor Him with the time He given us.
We can ask for Biblical insight to intimately understand His priorities.
We can ask for wisdom for the allotment of the minutes and hours.
We can pray for joy in our stewardship.
May we count our days that we might get a heart of wisdom!
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