Sunday, January 20, 2008

168-One Day



168-One Day, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.
This week at h2o, we continued our series, 168, we looked at the number not just as the number of hours in a week, but the number of hours in a day. Each day we spend about 16 hours awake and 8 hours sleeping.

As one breaks down the routine of the day (again taking averages), one comes to the conclusion that our days are extremely busy. If you work full time, you will work about 9 hours each day. I you eat, you take about 2 hours of your day for your meal times. That leaves 5 hours a day to work with. But then the average person can eat up an hour with showering, picking out what to wear, and taking care of hygiene stuff. (Especially in a fashion conscious society like ours.

Then the average american watches about two hours a night of TV. So that brings us to two hours of time. After that, we have IM, myspace, and facebook to consider along with exercise. If you factor in 15-30 minutes for surfing the web, and 30-45 minutes for exercise, that brings us down to one hour/day.

During that time we can squeeze in time with scripture, hanging with friends and family, involvement in a Bible study, and working toward world peace.

At the end of our day, we have very little time. So it's important how we use it.

My friend JR Woodward shared a redemptive concept with me a few years ago in an article he wrote. He had read about a group of people in their 80s and 90s and they were asked if they had their whole life to live again, what would they do differently.

Overwhelmingly, they said three things. They would . . .
Risk More
Reflect More
Give their lives to things that will go on after they die

That article had a significant impact on my life. As a result of it, I am more conscious of the decisions I make, and I am not afraid to take risks. As a result, I also carve out time each day to reflect on what God has done in my life and the lives of those around me. And finally, I am reminded daily that I want to be giving my life to things that will go on after I die.

As you read this, I want you to consider (1) healthy risks that God might be leading you toward, (2) places in your day in which you could slow down, and (3) what are you giving your life to? There are things that matter, and there are things that in the grand scheme don't at all. In the words of Maximus from the movie "Gladiator," What we do in life echoes in eternity. What will be echoing through your eternity?

1 comment:

Pam Swope said...

good blog! made me stop and think about my time...which I tend to totally waste.