Is What I’m Doing the Best Use of My Life?

In Ephesians 5:15-17 it says, “Be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise. Live wisely. I mean that you should use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do.” (ICB)

If I want to make an impact with my life, I’ve got to get control of my time. My time is my life. If I don’t learn to manage my time, I’ll limit the legacy of my life.

Ephesians 5:15-17 says, “Be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise. Live wisely. I mean that you should use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. So do not be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do” (ICB).

We all have the same amount of time every week: 168 hours. It’s what I do with it that counts! If I waste time, I’m wasting my life because my time is my life. I have to stop and consider, “Is this the best use of my time? Is this the best use of my life?”

I don’t have time for everything. But the good news is that God doesn’t expect me to do everything. So I shouldn’t feel guilty about it! There are only a few things worth doing in the first place.

Effective people figure out what’s essential in life and what’s trivial, and they spend more time doing the essential things and less time doing the trivial things. While I can’t eliminate everything that’s trivial in your life, I can reduce it.

This may sound simple, but it’s often difficult to choose between what’s best for my life and what’s easiest for it—especially when I’m tired. When I’m tired, I don’t want to do the best thing. I would rather do what’s easy. That’s why, if I’m really going to make something of my life, I have to learn to get some rest. If I’m not rested, I won’t have the mental, emotional, and physical strength to say, “I’m going to do the right thing instead of the easiest thing.”

So I shouldn’t waste this life. I shouldn’t settle for second best. Don’t go through life just existing. I was not created to just coast. God made me for a mission and a purpose. That starts by asking, “Is what I’m doing the best use of my life?

In summary, I need to be very careful in how I live. Live wisely and use every chance for doing good. Don't be foolish with my time, but learn what God wants me to do. There is a sense of urgency to this. I need to keep my standards high, act wisely and do good whenever possible. To help, I can use the investment test. Is this the best use of my time? Time is far more important than money. I can get more money, but I can't get more time. Once it's past, it's gone. So I need to figure out what is essential and what's trivial. Learn to choose what is best and spend my life on the mission that God has sent me here to fulfill. I have a choice, so figure out what is God's best and spend my life on it.