Challenge! Your time is not your own, so track it.

There is one gift that each of us has been given in equal supply: hours in the day.

All people on earth have the same amount of time, from the richest to the poorest. Each of us spends it all every day.

We’re given 24 hours each day and our whole life happens within the space of that daily gift. All the moments we want to share, the things we want to learn, the gifts we hope to give, and the goals we want to accomplish will happen as we spend this limited resource each day.

I believe that every day is a gift. The 24 hours I have were graciously provided to me by a generous God. God, in turn, has called me to spend my hours generously. Lent is a wonderful season to step back and evaluate if we’re spending our time in a way that reflects the giving nature of the God who grants us our days.

My problem is that too often I don’t even remember what I did the previous day, let alone being able to evaluate my week. If I really want to see how I’m spending my time, I have to be intentional about recording my time.

One thing to do is keep a daily calendar. In this calendar I don’t only write what I need to do, but I also go back and fill it in with what I did. It helps me to take notice of all the ways I might be wasting the precious time that God has given to me and it keeps me accountable and faithful in my days ahead. Part of my morning prayer is to look back at the previous day’s activities to remind me of where God was at work in my life and to thank God for all he’s done.

I also ask myself how I could have done better with my last 24 hours. This allows me to make a plan on how I will better spend my precious time in the upcoming day.

I want to challenge you to take some time over the next day or two to actively write down everything that you do throughout the day, along with how much time you spent on it. After you have a list, prayerfully reflect on where you saw God at work and where God might be challenging you to spend your time differently. You may find that this becomes a helpful, simple habit.

Lent is a great season to check in with God and spend the incredible gift of time we have every day in the work of love.

Daily Questions

• Where are some places in the past 24 hours where you have seen God at work?
• Where do you think you might have been able to spend your time a little bit better?