Eight Time Thieves
One commodity of which we have a limit supply is time. There are a number of Bible verses admonishing us to use our time wisely; but most of us let what time we have here on earth slip away from us. We allow time thieves to steal our time away. We have identified eight of those time-thieves below with the hope that we can help you guard again these bandits.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 NKJV
Time Thieves
1. Trying to change the past
Trying to undo what is already done is a bandit that eats lots of our time and can rob us of our future. You cannot change the past. If you have wronged someone or sinned against God, then seek forgiveness and move on.
Philippians 3:13-15 (NKJV)
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
2. Trying to escape the present
Sometimes the affairs of the present day and/or the future are so overwhelming that we seek to just blank-out. We fill our day with unproductive activities like watching television or reading novels so that we do not need to face the daily obligations of responsibilities. Therefore, we waste time. For some this can be one of the signs of serious depression; but for most of us, it is a sign of a need to refocus on the hope and blessings that are awaiting us in the adventure of life. Don’t let the thief of the present steal your valuable time.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
3. Dreaming away the future
Everyone knows a dreamer that is always dreaming big dreams but never acts on them. Perhaps, we all have a little bit of that dreamer in ourselves. Of course, there is always an excuse for never initiating the dream. Hours or even days are lost in dreaming. A person can dream their future away; and time lost in fantasizing can never be found.
Proverbs 22:13 (NKJV)
The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!”
4. Worrying
Worry is perhaps the greatest cat burglar of all time. Anxiety sneaks into the mind and causes us to spend needless time worrying about things that never come to pass. Some say that ninety percent of what we worry over never amounts to anything.
Matthew 6:25-36 (NKJV)
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
5. Procrastination
Generally speaking, we tend to put those things off that we do not like doing or are fearful of doing. Here is where procrastination becomes a time thief. First, we spend more time finding excuses for not doing it than if we had just done it! Plus! What is often the case; the job we have put off becomes more difficult and takes more of our time and money to remedy.
Ecclesiastes 11:-4 (NKJV)
He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
6. Punishing Yourself
Have you noticed how much time people spend on beating themselves up for a mistake? It’s often more time than it takes to correct the mistake. Take this example: John installed a storm door only to discover he had it swinging the wrong directions. John was so upset over his error that he spent the next three hours sulking in angry. Three hours of wasted time and energy.
This time crook (Punishing Yourself) delights in stealing time from Christians. Many Christians have wasted a ton of time by being reluctant to serve God because of past sins. Don’t lose another moment of time. If you have sought forgiveness, then you have found forgiveness. Move on!
1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
7. Pleasing Others and/or Seeking Approval/Praise from Others
Living your life for others can be very exhausting and time consuming. While it is natural to want to do nice things for people you love, pleasing others can become compulsive. If you self-worth is based on the approval of others, there is a good chance most of your time will be spent unproductively.
Galatians 1:10 (ESV)
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
8. Never Leaving the Starting Gate
A race horse will never win a race if it doesn’t leave the gate. The best way to make the best of the time the Lord has given you is to live it!
2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
One commodity of which we have a limit supply is time. There are a number of Bible verses admonishing us to use our time wisely; but most of us let what time we have here on earth slip away from us. We allow time thieves to steal our time away. We have identified eight of those time-thieves below with the hope that we can help you guard again these bandits.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 NKJV
Time Thieves
1. Trying to change the past
Trying to undo what is already done is a bandit that eats lots of our time and can rob us of our future. You cannot change the past. If you have wronged someone or sinned against God, then seek forgiveness and move on.
Philippians 3:13-15 (NKJV)
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
2. Trying to escape the present
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| Trying to escape the present |
Sometimes the affairs of the present day and/or the future are so overwhelming that we seek to just blank-out. We fill our day with unproductive activities like watching television or reading novels so that we do not need to face the daily obligations of responsibilities. Therefore, we waste time. For some this can be one of the signs of serious depression; but for most of us, it is a sign of a need to refocus on the hope and blessings that are awaiting us in the adventure of life. Don’t let the thief of the present steal your valuable time.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
3. Dreaming away the future
Everyone knows a dreamer that is always dreaming big dreams but never acts on them. Perhaps, we all have a little bit of that dreamer in ourselves. Of course, there is always an excuse for never initiating the dream. Hours or even days are lost in dreaming. A person can dream their future away; and time lost in fantasizing can never be found.
Proverbs 22:13 (NKJV)
The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!”
4. Worrying
Worry is perhaps the greatest cat burglar of all time. Anxiety sneaks into the mind and causes us to spend needless time worrying about things that never come to pass. Some say that ninety percent of what we worry over never amounts to anything.
Matthew 6:25-36 (NKJV)
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
5. Procrastination
Generally speaking, we tend to put those things off that we do not like doing or are fearful of doing. Here is where procrastination becomes a time thief. First, we spend more time finding excuses for not doing it than if we had just done it! Plus! What is often the case; the job we have put off becomes more difficult and takes more of our time and money to remedy.
Ecclesiastes 11:-4 (NKJV)
He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
6. Punishing Yourself
Have you noticed how much time people spend on beating themselves up for a mistake? It’s often more time than it takes to correct the mistake. Take this example: John installed a storm door only to discover he had it swinging the wrong directions. John was so upset over his error that he spent the next three hours sulking in angry. Three hours of wasted time and energy.
This time crook (Punishing Yourself) delights in stealing time from Christians. Many Christians have wasted a ton of time by being reluctant to serve God because of past sins. Don’t lose another moment of time. If you have sought forgiveness, then you have found forgiveness. Move on!
1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
7. Pleasing Others and/or Seeking Approval/Praise from Others
Living your life for others can be very exhausting and time consuming. While it is natural to want to do nice things for people you love, pleasing others can become compulsive. If you self-worth is based on the approval of others, there is a good chance most of your time will be spent unproductively.
Galatians 1:10 (ESV)
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
8. Never Leaving the Starting Gate
A race horse will never win a race if it doesn’t leave the gate. The best way to make the best of the time the Lord has given you is to live it!
2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
