Truth Process Session IV, Lesson 9

Time and Priorities

“Opportunity Cost” is a financial concept. In basic terms, it could be explained like this:

No one has an unlimited supply of money. (Please refrain from any comments regarding our government). Since the supply of money is finite, choosing to use money in one area precludes the opportunity of using it in a different area.

Let’s say a person chooses to spend $30 a month on soft drinks. Assume he has access to a local credit union which will pay 2.5% on deposits. Since this person has a finite money supply, his $30 a month cannot be deposited in the credit union, where it would have grown to $365 over 12 months. This is the “opportunity cost” of his choice to spend $30 a month on soft drinks.

Two weeks ago we discussed the importance of spiritual balance. Last week we talked about the role of perspective in maintaining balance. The perspective we speak of is relevant to two significant areas of life – our time, and our priorities. Time – like money – is finite, and there is an “opportunity cost” associated with the choices we make regarding the use of our time.

“Time” is an interesting concept, isn’t it? Although it is precise and measurable in terms of seconds, minutes, weeks, months, and years, it can also feel somewhat nebulous as it seems to slip away from us. I think of scooping up a handful of sand on the beach and watching it run through my fingers. Without paying extremely close attention, I cannot be sure of how many grains of sand have slipped away. Nor can I be certain of how much remains in my hand. So it is with time.

It is important to think about time because it is within the parameters of time that we perform God’s work, executing the duties of the ambassador for Christ. Scripture makes numerous references to time, but the one that began to grab my attention several years ago is found in Psalm 90, especially verses 10 and 12 –

The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.(v10)

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.(v 12)

Somewhere around the time I was turning 50, our former senior pastor, Bob Hopper preached a message in which the central theme was Psalm 90. It got my attention as I was just beginning to realize that when it comes to years, they do indeed “quickly pass” (v 11). I was also going through the rather painful process of learning that my own wisdom and view of life was badly flawed and deficient in many respects. I was discovering that God would need to teach me (v 12) to make good use of my time (and my life), because I obviously couldn’t figure it out for myself. My life was way out of balance because I wasn’t standing on the Rock. As Andy put it, I was “trying to stand on myself”.

That was nearly ten years ago. I wish I could say that I have “gained a heart of wisdom” and now “number my days aright.” Although my perspective on time has changed as I grow older, the truth is that this is still a work in progress – a metamorphosis.

Can you relate?

As I think about what how most people choose to use their time, it seems to me that our priorities are a primary driver of those choices. This is another area where proper perspective is critical.

During our class discussion, I shared with you a metaphor involving a container, large rocks, gravel, sand, and water. The container represents our lives. The large rocks represent the important matters of life (priorities). The gravel, sand, and water represent the rest of the matters of life ranging from the less important to the meaningless.

The imagery of this metaphor is clear and powerful. If the large rocks are placed in the container first, there is still room for the gravel, some of the sand, and maybe even some of the water. But if the container is first filled with gravel, sand, and water, there is no room for the large rocks. Unfortunately, this can happen in our lives when the less important and sometimes meaningless demands of life crowd out the most important and most meaningful priorities.

As ambassadors for Christ, our role is diminished when we fail to identify the most important and meaningful priorities – the “large rocks” of life. In reality, the large rocks have already been identified for us by God himself on His divinely inspired word. Here are just a few of the priorities of which scripture speaks:

Love God
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)

Love your neighbor
Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31)

Study and meditate upon His word
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (Psalm 119:97)

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Pray
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

Because the believers’ priorities are fairly obvious, I find it far easier to identify the priorities than to order my life by them. This is probably, at least in part, because I don’t think about them enough. When I don’t think about them, I don’t treat them as priorities. Instead, I treat them as “when I have the time” items. In other words, my life gets filled up with gravel, sand, and water, and I just can’t seem to fit the rocks in.

Can you see how closely time and priorities are related?

Bear with me as I state the obvious: Everything we do takes time. Thinking about priorities takes time. Reading and studying takes time. Praying takes time. Loving your neighbor takes time.

Since each of us has a finite amount of time to work with, there is an “opportunity cost” associated with our use of time. We can choose to use it first for the “large rocks” of the believer’s life, or we can choose to use it first for the gravel, sand, and water.

We all have a choice.

What’s it going to be?