I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? –  Nehemiah 6:3

The Weight of Time

Every time you choose to do something, you are also choosing not to do something else. That is one of the most important insights about productivity.

Time is perhaps the only truly non-renewable resource we have

Time is perhaps the only truly non-renewable resource we have. Even natural resources can be replenished given enough time—but time itself, once spent, is gone. Because of this, there is a weight—almost a sacredness—with which the believer ought to approach its use.

A Great Work

In allocating time, the believer must prioritize correctly. We simply can’t frivolously spend something as valuable as time on activities of little spiritual urgency or eternal value. Nehemiah models this clearly. When distracted by those who wanted to pull him away from his assignment, he responded: “I am doing a great work… why should the work cease?” in the time that you want me to come down and chit chat with you?

We simply can’t frivolously spend something as valuable as time on activities of little spiritual urgency or eternal value

At the core of how we use time is our understanding of the greatness and urgency of our assignment relative to the myriad other things that demand our attention. The clearer this becomes, the easier it is to say no to distractions.

Focused on the Assignment

We see how Jesus prioritizes the assignment on one occasion when he had sent his disciples to go buy some food, and on their return, they met him having a conversation with a Samaritan woman. When harassed by his disciples to suspend the conversation and grab a bite, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish the assignment.

Even legitimate needs did not override His sense of mission.

Numbering Our Days

The truth is, we do not have forever to fulfill our assignment. Recognizing this, the psalmist says a really insightful prayer: “Teach us to understand the brevity of our lives so we can use our time wisely” (Psalm 90:12).

The truth is, we do not have forever to fulfill our assignment

It is about the wise use of time that Paul the apostle as he ages, writes to a much younger Timothy: use every opportunity you get, whether it seems convenient or not (2 Timothy 4:2). And to the Colossians: redeem the time (Colossians 4:3); make the most of the time you have and the times you are living in.

Redeeming the Time

Now as Paul ends the letter to the Colossians, and after sending his best wishes to the church and several individuals, he leaves a message (that sounds almost like a warning) for a specific brother called Archippus: “And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it” (Colossians 4:17).

Pay attention. Devote time. Approach the assignment with seriousness—so that it is completed.

The Final Commendation

If we are to receive the commendation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” it will be because we took heed—because we paid attention, devoted time, and approached the task with gravity.

It will be because we truly believed the assignment to be great and as such invested so much time in it that we had little left for side attractions.