The Fourth Tip: Consider People

As girls, we are by nature, relational characters. Our world is primarily centered around our family and friends. Yet, we are often passive and receptive than we are intentional and purposeful in our relationships. We may allow people to drift in and out of our lives. We don’t usually stop to consider why we pursue a certain friendship or neglect another. Emotions and feelings often dictate the way we go about relationships.

Let's ask, "Do our relationships—the time we spend with our family and the friends we pursue—bring glory to God?"

Maybe you’re wondering, “How do I go about evaluating my relationships? What criteria do I use?” Thankfully, once again God’s Word provides clarity. We are exhorted to be intentional. Proverbs 12:26 tells us that: “The righteous should choose his friends carefully” (NKJV). So what kind of friends should we choose? Let’s briefly fly over Scripture to discover which friends (in addition to family, of course) should be on our list.

Note: All the following tips and descriptions were collected from the book “Shopping for Time.”

1. Friends who sharpen.
Our idea of a first-rate friend might be someone who’s easy to get along with, laughs at the same movie lines, shares our opinions on fashion and food, can finish our sentences, sticks by us in the rough going, and is free to hang out on a Friday night. Those are all great things, but in Scripture there is a friend quality of much greater value. Actually, it’s one we can’t afford to do without. The best kind of friend, according to Proverbs 27:17, is one who sharpens us as “iron sharpens iron” (NKJV). We need to have at least one—and preferably many—friends who inspire us to serve, provoke us to love, help us grow in godliness, correct us, strengthen our faith, and spur us on to passion for the Savior. So do any “sharpening” friends appear on your friends list? If not, we need to find some—and fast!

2. Friends who mentor.
As young women, we should ask ourselves: “Do I have a friend from whom I am learning some aspect of biblical womanhood?” If you have a godly mom, she’s to be your mentor. For the rest of us younger women, lets ask a mature woman in our church to teach us what she know about caring for the home, or glorifying God in the workplace, or walking in purity. A friend who mentors us deserves a prominent spot on our relationship list. Read through Titus 2:3-5 to get a better understanding

3. Friends who need friends.
It’s so easy, isn’t it, to get comfortable with our close friends, the gang, the group—dare we say it, the clique? While long time friends are a significant blessing from the Lord, we are also called to reach out to the new person. “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” exhorts Hebrews 13:1-2. Remember what it was like when you were new? To see other women chatting excitedly and to have no one to talk to? So let’s take a look around us: “Who is one new friend I should add to my list? And how can I reach out to her?”

4. Friends who need Salvation.
One of the ways we can make the best use of our time is by wise conduct around unbelievers. Often it is very easy for us to get consumed by our school, our work, or our responsibilities at home that we neglect the responsibility of evangelism. “Walk in wisdom toward others, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

The Third Tip: Sit and Plan

Have you ever sat down and listed out your priorities? In this chapter from the book “Shopping for Time” the ladies offer some biblical counsel on the order our priorities should be set. Although your list may look slightly different, it’s important that your priorities come from God’s Word and not personal preferences. We should all have similar priorities stemming from our identity as Christian women, even though we may use other words of categories to describe them. As you walk through each season of life, there may be a few that you won’t be able to give as much attention to. What’s great about high school and single years is that (most of the time) we have more freedom to do some of the things I’m going to mention. When I say freedom, I’m simply talking about not being married or raising children. We are most certainly still to be submissive to our parents and honor their requests in the ways we spend our time.

So, here is the list. Take some time to look over it and think about how you’ve been doing with prioritizing your life.

-Grow in godliness. “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)
-Love my family. A woman’s main concern should be to love her family—Even as a young woman. Now is the time to prepare to be a wife and mother (Titus 2:4).
-Serve in the church. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
-Fellowship with Christians. “As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all our sin.” (1 John 1:7)
-Evangelize non-Christians. “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15)…. “Let each one who has received grace reach one who needs grace” –Steve Whitacre
-Attend to my work. “Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23)
-Care for my physical health. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Application Questions:

Does my life reflect one of the World? Or am I striving to glorify God in everything I do? Do others see a heart reflecting the love of Christ in me? What is one area God is calling me to grow in godliness?

The Second Tip: Sit Still

“What happens when we sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His voice? First, pause a moment and consider the stunning implication of this question. Because of His death on the cross for our sins, we have the privilege to sit at the feet of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace and to listen to Him (Isaiah 9:6).

As if it weren’t enough to bask in His presence, it is here that we receive grace to make the best use of out time. When we seek God through His Word and prayer, we glean wisdom for walking carefully. We obtain guidance for daily decisions. We find peace in the midst of life’s whirlwind. We are infused with strength to complete our tasks.

Wisdom. Guidance. Peace. Strength. We can’t successfully shop for time without them. And we’ll only find these essentials by sitting at Jesus’ feet. We certainly can’t manufacture them on our own.”

How has your devotional life been looking these days? Is it a joy and delight to sit at the Lord’s feet or do you view devotions as a chore? If you consider devotions as a chore, let me encourage you to ask the Lord to change your heart. If it’s your desire to grow in holiness then I can guarantee that the Lord (can) and will change your heart. The Bible say’s “Ask and you shall receive.” Take some time today to ask the Lord to change your heart!

The First Tip: Rise Early Pt. 2

Although I’m aware that as young ladies you probably don’t have many things to cater to in the morning such as getting up with happy little children (most of the time happy ;), cooking breakfast, getting your hubby’s lunch ready/sending him out the door for work, getting that first load of laundry started, etc. No, these things most likely aren’t taking up your attention in the morning. But, as I have learned and have experienced way too many times, there are many days when the alarm clock starts blaring oh so loudly that I’ll say, “This morning I’m tired so I’ll do my devotions during--------.” And sadly, I’ll get wrapped up into the many tasks a day can bring and completely forget about spending time with the Lord, and let me tell ya, most of the time you can tell by my attitude if I haven’t spent some precious time sitting at the Lord’s feet learning from Him (It’s not a good one!).

So, with that said, I am coming to you as a sister in Christ who has learned the hard way many times. I’m FULLY aware that getting out of bed in the morning is not always fun. Not only have I experienced much refreshment in my soul during my times with the Lord in the morning, but rising early has provided a little extra time to get a few things done that are difficult to do once a busy day is underway. Sometimes I even remember to eat breakfast :).

It takes hard work to get into a normal morning schedule. I have found that waking up at the same time every morning makes it much easier to get up if I’m not waking up at different times. Don’t forget to find an accountability partner to ask you how you’re doing (Mom’s are great!). The shopping for time ladies have once again provided some very helpful tips that I’ve turned to numerous times when it comes to rising early. I hope you find them helpful and be sure to try them out!

1. Set your alarm clock in a strategic location, preferably on the other side of the room from your bed.
2. Set your alarm for the same time every day.
3. Never, never, never hit the snooze button or lie back down to catch a few more winks. The second your alarm clock goes off is the most critical moment in rising early.
4. Proceed directly to the coffee pot or caffeinated drink of choice.
5. Be prepared to feel absolutely miserable for about ten to fifteen minutes. But the misery soon turns into pure gladness as you experience the delight of meeting with God and reap the benefits the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes of misery is certainly worth fifteen-plus hours of peace and productivity.
6. Remember, that our bodies eventually respond to a standard wake-up time. In other words, it gets easier.

The First Tip: Rise Early Pt. 1

Rising early is one of the most crucial things when it comes to time management. Why, you ask? Well, when we rise early time is provided to do things that you normally can’t do during the busyness of our days. Spending time with the Lord first thing in the morning helps us start our days off with our minds indulged in the word and our souls refreshed. Maybe you’re thinking “But why do I have to get up early to meet with God? What’s wrong with the afternoon or evening?”

The Shopping for Time writers answer this question:

They say, “Nothing. There is no law in the Bible that dictates when to have a quiet time. In fact, we are to meditate on God’s word day and night! However, there is biblical encouragement for rising early to seek the Savior. Consider the Psalmist who his prayer in the morning and then watches for an answer (Ps. 5:3). The Proverbs 31 woman is famous for rising “while it is yet night.” Finally, and most notably, Jesus Himself rose early to pray. Mark 1:35 records, “Rising early in the morning while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed’”

John Piper offers this advice, “I earnestly recommend that it be in the morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons. The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart…We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the word of God and prayer.”

By rising early we can secure much needed refreshment for our souls.

Tomorrow we’ll cover pt. 2 on the importance of rising early.

"Because the Days Are Evil"

“Every day we relate to a world full of sinners, each with their own unique temptations. Not to mention the reality of Satan’s attacks. But in truth we look no further than our very own hearts wherein sin still wages war. We live in a fallen world. In fact Matthew 6 reminds us that each day brings its own set of troubles. We are continually exposed to evil. Therefore, it is imperative that we choose only the best opportunities each season has to offer, because we never know what trouble is waiting for us today—or tomorrow. The reality of evil is not to produce fear but rather to inspire carefulness. It is to provoke us to live wisely—to encourage us to buy up the best deals in each and every season.”

So there you have it. Ephesians 5:15-16 offers us some wise counsel about how we should walk and what we should "look out" for. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin to go through the five wonderful tips on becoming wise shoppers of time provided by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters.

Stay tuned for…

1. Rise Early
2. Sit Still
3. Sit and plan
4. Consider people
5. Plan to depend

A Time for Every Season

“Think back five years ago. Wasn’t your life different from the way it is now? Maybe you weren’t even a Christian at that time? Even if you don’t feel as if your life is dramatically different, change has occurred. You’ve probably walked through relational changes, experienced physical changes, learned new skills, or developed new interests. Undoubtedly your life is different then the way it was five years ago. And the same will be true five years from now. That’s because our lives are made up of changing seasons.

Ecclesiastes 3:1- “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

New seasons will be rolling in for the rest of our lives—each with their own unique joys and challenges. In fact, just about the time we adjust to our present season, it’s time to bring on a new one.

We must understand the reality of our changing seasons if we want to “look carefully how we walk” and “make the best use of our time,” for the best deals vary from season to season. Last year’s great bargain might be this year’s foolish purchase. And while we must walk with open eyes and make wise choices in each season, our comfort is this—God orders the seasons of our lives. Even the most difficult ones.”