Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Jesus Creed

Home
Evangelical
Jesus and Time Management

Jesus and Time Management

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 4:15 am by Scot McKnight

Jesus and Time Management 2019-07-19T15:17:48-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Mike Glenn

I missed the deadline. The article you’re reading right now was due to Scot yesterday or the day before [SMcK: last Thursday, but that’s OK]. I can’t remember which.

It’s not my fault.

Really.

Let me explain.

I was getting ready to write the article. I had my idea. I had the outline. I had just written an eye catching opening line when the phone rang.

A young couple in our church was having a baby. Congratulations!

No. No congratulations. The little fellow was coming too early. He was only 23 weeks old. The doctors were hoping they could hold him off until 30 weeks, but he had come early anyway. His lungs weren’t fully developed yet. He was having trouble breathing. He was weak and tiny.

The doctors could make no promises.

So, I went to hospital. I talked to mom and dad, grandmothers and grandfathers. I talked – and listened – to aunts and uncles and countless friends. And we prayed. All of them wanted to know the same thing. Why did this happen? Where is God? Can we pray for a miracle?

What do you say? I’ve been in this situation more times than I can remember and I’ve never known what to say.

I stayed several hours. By the time I got home, I was emotionally drained and mentally exhausted. I knew I had promised to write this article, but I was just too tired. So, I missed the deadline.

Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t a hero of any kind. Every pastor you know has a similar story. It’s just what we do. If somebody needs us, we go.

And we miss deadlines. Sermons don’t get the level of the depth of attention they need. We walk into meetings tired and less prepared than we want and too many times, our families are left with the left overs.

For years, I felt guilty about how bad I was at time management. I tried every planner, theory, strategy that was offered. I read every book by every management guru I could find.

None of it ever worked for me.

Then, in my reading I noticed some things about how Jesus lived His life and what that said about time management. No, Jesus didn’t give any seminars on time management.

He lived one.

First of all, Jesus knew who He was and He knew what He was sent to do. He didn’t allow anyone else to define Him and He never surrendered to anyone else’s agenda. When Peter came and told Him the crowds were waiting, Jesus told Peter they should move on to the other villages because that’s why He had come. I have wasted years of my life trying to live up to someone’s false expectations of me and held captive to someone’s agenda. Jesus taught me to take myself and my calling more seriously. Like Jesus, I was sent on a mission. This mission has always been and always will be the highest and best use of my time.

Second, take advantage of down time. Not every day is a crisis. Not every week is filled with emergencies. There are days where nothing particularly important seems to be happen. These are the moments to study, pray, write, invest in family and friends. Jesus made it a habit to disappear in the wilderness. He would walk for days with His disciples. Jesus knew the time would come when much would be asked of Him. He used His days wisely to be prepared for when they did.

Third, Jesus knew not everything called an “emergency” actually is an emergency. He refused to be pulled into a false crisis of someone else’s making. Because Jesus had fully said yes to His mission, He was free to say no to everything else. This is a lesson that took me years to learn. There are a few things I’m good at and I’m not good at much else. I need to say “yes” to the moments where I can bring my best efforts and “no” to everything else. Just doing that will save me days of time every year.

Fourth, Jesus knew interruptions were part of life – part of His ministry. Most of the stories we have about Jesus begin with someone coming up and interrupting Jesus. Yet, Jesus was always free to stop and be in the moment. Jesus never made anyone feel like He had brushed them off or pushed them aside. If anything, Jesus gave the person He was talking to TOO much attention. His focus could be intense. Every day I have to remind myself to be where I am; to give my attention fully to the person I’m with. Jesus gives us the freedom to always respond appropriately to each other. He was never in a rush. We shouldn’t live that way either.

And Jesus always knew where He was going. He never took His eye off of Jerusalem. Israel was never far from His heart. He never wavered or hesitated. Jesus knew who He was. He knew where He was going. That’s why Jesus made every moment count.

Our time problem isn’t we’ve got too much to do in too little time, but we don’t know who we are and we don’t know why we’re here. We keep committing to things we hope will bring our identity to us. We get involved in things we hope will give our lives meanings.

And we waste years of our lives. Jesus knew who He was. Jesus knew where He was going. Jesus knew His mission. Allocating His time accordingly was easy because He knew the answers to the essential questions of life.

After years of trying, I’m finally getting hold of my time. I know who I am. I know what I’m called to do and I love doing what I do.

And sometimes, I’ll miss a deadline, but when I do, I’ll know why. I’m OK with that. I hope my friends are as well.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 22, 2019

Weak and Strong in Rome

Next Post

July 23, 2019 Sunday Comes Every Week: Friday

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the mother of Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elizabeth Ruth Sarah Mary