The currency of a day
Updated: Jan 12, 2021
No matter our age, gender, race, financial status, employment status, etc., we are all given an equal share of something every single day. TIME. In just a single day, we are each gifted 24 hours, which is 1,440 minutes, which is 86,400 seconds. My pastor calls time currency, which I have really come to adopt in my mindset. It’s so true, just like our money, we can spend our time any way we choose, no matter the circumstance, we still have choice.
I like to think of a day in minutes because I get over a thousand of them to spend and each cluster of minutes that I choose can be intentionally rationed a bit easier. SO...just for conversation sake, let’s take out of the equation the average sleeping minutes in a 24 hr period, so we can really get a grasp on what we are working with. We need 8 hours of sleep, but in reality we sleep an average of 7 hrs or less. 7 hours is= 420 minutes, which still leaves us a whopping 1,020 waking minutes!! For some of us, we work an 8 hour day which is an automatic -480 minutes. Even still, we have 540 minutes to do exactly what we please! I’m taking averages, but I suggest you do the math on your own situation and I know you will be amazed at the time you have afforded in your life.
So… can we pause for just a brief moment to look honestly at how we spend the minutes of our lives? We may exercise, cook, clean our homes, spend time with our families or on hobbies, Netflix and chill or slip into an abyss of social media or internet games.
(I thank you for spending three of your life's minutes today reading this blog.)
Can we be so brave as to ask ourselves this: “Of the generous amount of minutes we have been gifted today, how many have we given to God?” Better yet, maybe consider this: “What would my life look like if God gave me consideration and attention in a day equal to what I give to him?”
You may be thinking, well I wake up and pray, I pray throughout the day, before meals and before bed. I go to church on Sundays and read a couple of chapters from the Bible every day. I listen to worship music in my car and honor him with song and praise. What else can I possibly do to give God more of my minutes? What more could God possibly expect of me while I’m still trying to live my life?
Jesus answered that when he told us what was to be considered the greatest commandment in the Bible. Matthew 22:36-40: “...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… Love your neighbor as yourself.”
In my humble opinion, I believe when we love God as commanded, our choices, our behavior, and the words that come out of our mouths in person, on social media or text/email, will emulate exactly that! And so… every time we have a little win of being like Jesus during our day, that is a moment we have given the Lord.
And too, when we choose to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are looking out for the best interest of others around us, whether they deserve it or not. Every time we choose to display love for our fellow humans, we are honoring God with those minutes in our lives. There is an unscaled, infinity of ways in which we can do this, depending on our unique situations. Are we looking for those moments and rejoicing to honor God when we honor others, even if it requires giving others some of our precious minutes or resources?
I am reminded of the moment Jesus came to Peter after he was resurrected. Peter had denied him and Jesus was reassuring him that everything was forgiven and all was well. But he asked Peter three times if Peter loved him. Each time Peter said yes Jesus told him the following:
Feed my lambs
Take care of my sheep
Feed my sheep
He ends the conversation by saying twice, “Follow me!”
How we give God the moments of our lives can look very different. But it all boils down to following Jesus and taking care of one another.
Now, looking at our days with that perspective, I hope we all choose to move forward with intention to honor and serve our amazing Abba, Yahweh our God with every minute of our day!
Stay encouraged!
