Spend Wisely!

A friend gave me the following quote, which she'd typed on a 3 x 5" card. After I'd finished reading it, I said, "I love this! Thank you for sharing it with me."

This is the beginning of a new day. 

God has given me this day to use as I will. 

I can waste it or use it for good, 

but what I do is important 

because I am exchanging a day of my life for it!

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, 

leaving in its place something I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain and not loss, 

good and not evil, 

success and not failure

in order that I shall not regret 

the price that I have paid for it.

~Author Unknown

As a result of reading and re-reading those words, I'm trying to make better decisions in regard to time management. I ask myself questions such as these: Is this the best use of my time right now? Is it worth thirty minutes (etc.) of my LIFE? In the grand scheme of things, is this activity/task truly important? Will it bless someone else? Will it honor my Lord? Just because I've always done this (or that), does it mean I should continue doing it? Am I too busy?

As I make hundreds of decisions each day (as you do), I pray this prayer:

"Lord, teach me to use wisely 

all the time You've given me."

(See Psalm 90:12.) 

Another daily prayer of my heart is based on these words in a song written by Ira B. Wilson, 1909: 

Make me a blessing,

Make me a blessing,

Out of my life,

May Jesus shine; 

Make me a blessing, 

O Savior, I pray,

Make me a blessing to someone today.

I love those words so much that I often sing them (as well as all the verses in that song) as I'm driving here and there for they express the desire of my heart and help keep me focused on doing the things that truly are important. I do not want to come to the end of my life and regret how I spent the precious moments God gave me.