Part II: Time Management Basics for Teens

“Rise up, O men of God! Be done with lesser things; Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of Kings.”

This first verse of W. H. Walter’s classic hymn sums up beautifully the Greatest Commandment restated by Christ in Mark 12:30.  It points to the need for a distinctively Christian theology of time-management.  To “rise up” demands throwing off the chains of sloth, lethargy and procrastination.  To “be done with lesser things” implies establishing a criteria for evaluating our priorities.  To “give heart and soul and mind and strength” to serve God requires purposeful, zealous, intelligent and forceful action—all four components of the human personality working together.  Simply put, loving God as we should requires us to manage our time differently.

Making the Most of the Time

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Be very careful then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:16 NKJV).  Paul does not suggest that we save our time.  Rather he urges us to spend our time more wisely. Because time must be spent, or it will be forfeited, wisdom requires us to invest it in those things that have enduring value—the gold, silver and precious stones of life, rather than the wood, hay and stubble.  The evilness of the days refers to their complexity.  Like God, it seems that every institution, organization and cause now “loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives”.  If we do not begin each day with a clear sense of what God would have us do, we will be distracted by the competing demands.  We must carefully choose how we will spend our time, or else that time will wasted.  The decision of how we will spend our time confronts us with our need to know our purpose in life.  How can we “be done with lesser things” unless we know what the greater things in life are?  That is where the Greatest Commandment comes to bear so powerfully.

“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)

Loving God is the greater thing.  It is our ultimate purpose.  But this wonderful purpose requires us to set goals and make corresponding plans.  Even then, goals and plans alone are not enough.  We must also have the self-discipline to follow through with our plans by taking action.  Heart, soul, mind and strength result in purposes, goals, plans and actions.  All four parts of our human nature come into play in the four phases of Christian time management.

HEART: Embraces God’s Purpose
SOUL: Sets Passionate Goals
MIND: Makes Informed Plans
STRENGTH: Takes Forceful Action