OVERCOMING DISTRACTION 2: THE THIEF OF TIME
I stole meat from the pot as a young boy. It was quite bad that Mum had to start counting the pieces of meat in the stew. Like a genius, I adopted the slim-fitting pattern. Rather than steal a whole piece of meat at a go, I would take small portions off each chunk. The pieces of meat in the pot are still the same but the size would have reduced significantly.
I think that is the way the devil steals from people also. He does not steal a life. He steals time. He knows that you would resist when he wants to steal life so he goes for the tiny pieces that make the whole – a second, a minute! When you add it all up, the time of life is stolen. It is called ‘life-time’.
The only raw material that we all have in common is time. We are all blessed with this amazing raw material that can be converted into different things.
There is a time for everything…
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV
Time can be converted into knowledge and wisdom if we give time to learning.
Time can be converted to Skill if we give time to practice.
If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.
Ecclesiastes 10:10 NIV
Time can be converted to wealth if we pay attention to investing it the right way and investing things at the right time.
But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
Proverbs 6:9-11 NLT
When the raw material is stolen, it would be daydreaming to expect a finished product. The devil invests in making men waste their time so that they wallow in lack, frustration, and ignorance.
The devil steals your time when you have energy (that is when you are still young and agile). He ensures that you waste time with frivolities. By the time you wake up and you are wise enough to understand what he has stolen from you for years, you do not have the energy and time any more to do any worth the while.
So a lot of young people have time and energy but they lack the wisdom to maximize both. On the contrary, old people have no more time or energy but they have a lot of regrets. What is the definition of regret in old age? It is a form of wisdom that now lacks opportunity for expression. It is expressed in words like, “If I can be your age again” or “If I can turn back the hands of time”.
Time is the unit of life and destiny. Time stolen is destiny shortchanged. Time wasters end up with loads of regret.
Will you have an appraisal?
temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa