Jesus' Guide to Time Management

I am always amazed when I look at the ministry of Jesus. His ministry, by all indications, was only 3 ½ years long and yet he never seemed to be rushed, stressed or running out of time. I have often wondered what it was that helped Jesus manage His short ministry on earth so easily. So, I began to study the Gospels with the intent of finding principles that I could apply to my own ministry and time budgeting. Here is what I found:

Christ knew His mission.

From the very beginning of His ministry, everything He did was related to His mission to “seek and save the lost.” He didn’t have time for nonsense when there were men and women who needed His love and His touch. Toward the end of  His ministry, we read in Luke 9 that He “set His face to Jerusalem” (9:51). This shows a mission determination. He was going to fulfill His purpose regardless of the consequences, even if it meant losing His life to save humanity. He was mission-driven and the way He used His time reflected this, every step of the way.As Joshua’s Men we have worked hard to ascertain the unique mission for our lives to which God has called us. It is once we discover this call that we, like Jesus, must be mission-driven. We, too, must be determined to fulfill His mission in our lives. In so doing our calendars and our use of time will reflect our mission.

 Christ knew His limits.

At no point in His ministry do we see Jesus going non-stop. Instead we see Him taking time for rest. He even invited His disciples to “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest

”

(Mark 6:31). He understood that, while His mission was paramount, He also had physical limits and needed time for rest, both with and without His disciples. Sometimes we forget our limits. We find ourselves going 100MPH and then wonder why we are becoming sick, fatigued and unfocused. We must learn to recognize our limits and practice healthy boundaries and balance in our lives just as Jesus did. Making time to commune with our Heavenly Father and with our fellow believers is vital. It is only through this rest and recharging that we can continue to effectively fulfill our mission.

Christ took time to invest in others.

One of our great privileges is the ability to mentor others in ministry. As we have discussed before, when you look at the ministry of Jesus, much of his time was spent pouring into or mentoring the disciples so that they would be equipped to continue His ministry following His ascension. There are occasions when it might not seem like the wisest use of time, after all isn’t the saying true, “If you want something done right, do it yourself?” However, when you look at the impact that can be made for the cause of Christ by mentoring others the time spent is well worth it.As we look at the ministry of Jesus we see how we, too, can budget our time wisely and be about His business of seeking and saving the lost.

Conversation:

• How are you talking time for rest and recreation in the midst of a busy life?

• In whom are you investing for the Kingdom?