In this series of teaching on stewardship, John Cole revised and taught from a published course made available without copyright by local church pastors shared for churches like ours. Read the handout notes here...

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REVIEW—PRIORITY

Psalm 90:10

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

THE MASTER

God owns time. God has entrusted you with your time. You will one day give account to Him for how you have stewarded it .

THE MISSION

Discover and display the goodness and glory of God.

THE GROUND RULES

1. Obey the Master in each area of responsibility throughout your life.

2. The Master is in control of how much time you have .

3. Time is short, so we must be urgent about our stewardship.

OBSTACLES

*These obstacles are adapted from Do More Better by Tim Challies

1. Laziness

“As you study the sluggard throughout Proverbs you will see that he is a man who refuses to begin new ventures, a man who will not finish what he has begun, a man who will not face reality and, through it all, a man who is restless, helpless, and useless. His life is chaotic because his soul is chaotic.” —Tim Challies, Do More Better, page 20.

Laziness is more than an issue of self-discipline. It is an issue of faith.

God has told us two important things about time that the sluggard does not believe: that time is short , and that the rewards for using our time well are worth whatever they cost.

Laziness comes when we don’t believe that anything we do really matters ; rest in God’s promise that for the righteous, their deeds will last into eternity (Rev. 14:13).

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Laziness comes when we get frustrated by setbacks and finally give up ; rest in God’s promise that He will use even those setbacks for our good (Romans 8:28).

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Laziness comes when we do not believe that God is worth serving ; rest in God’s promise that if we taste him, we will discover that He truly is good (Psalm 34:8).

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Laziness comes when we passively procrastinate instead of making decisions and taking actions (Proverbs 26:13-16); rest in God’s promise to lead you by His indwelling Spirit according to the life of Christ. (Romans 8:10-14)

Proverbs 26:13–16

The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; A lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon his hinges, So doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; It grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit Than seven men that can render a reason.

Romans 8:10–14

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

2. Busyness

For the Christian, working smarter means being intentional to do the things that matter in God’s economy .

No matter the apparent importance of any particular responsibility, don’t allow busyness to crowd out any of your God-given responsibilities.

Remember the ever-present threat of the urgent crowding out the important.

Ask yourself, of all the priorities in front of you, which must be done by you.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

We can so quickly feel that busyness equates to importance , equates to value.

3. People-Pleasing

Galatians 1:10

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

If you’re honest, how many items on your schedule are there either because you desire someone’s approval or fear someone’s disapproval ? Or, more broadly, how much of your schedule stems from idolatry rather than a desire to follow Jesus?

Matthew 6:24

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

4. Thorns and Thistles

Genesis 3:18

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Romans 8:20–21

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Let those thorns and thistles remind you that God is God , you are not , and that is a very good thing.

As a redeemed sinner, you live in a world subjected to futility and in that weakness you can by faith delight in and depend on God far more than if you were able to accomplish all the good you hoped to do this side of the resurrection.

CONCLUSION

1. First and most important, your time is not your own.

2. Be deliberate in how you invest God’s time.

Proverbs 27:23–24

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: And doth the crown endure to every generation?

3. Trust in the sovereign goodness of God.

EXTRAS

Questions about your commitments from Tim Challies

From the book, Do More Better, page 40.

1. Are these the right and best things for me to be doing?

2. Do these things fit my mission [God’s priorities for your time]?

3. Are there things I can do in this area that no one else can do?

4. Am I especially gifted or talented in this area?

5. Do I bring unique value to this?

6. Is there someone who can do this better than I can?

Questions for reviewing areas of responsibility in an annual retreat from Carolyn Mahaney

From http://www.girltalkhome.com/files/personal_retreat.pdf

Carolyn suggests asking these questions about the following areas of responsibility: your personal holiness, your service at church, fellowshipping with believers, evangelizing unbelievers, loving your family, attending to your work, caring for your physical health.

1. Am I keeping the Gospel personally?

2. Am I daily “preaching the Gospel to myself?”

3. What is my present involvement with each priority?

4. Given my present season, am I giving the right amount of time, energy, and attention to each priority?

5. Is my present investment into each priority bringing glory to God?

6. Is there anything about my present investment into each priority that is not bringing glory to God and thus needs to change?

7. What are the best opportunities that this season of my life offers? Am I “buying up,” “rescuing from loss,” and “improving” these opportunities?

8. Are there any “good” activities or “noble” endeavors in which I am presently involved that are hindering my investment into priority relationships?

9. Why am I involved in this particular activity or endeavor? Is it to glorify God, or is it for selfish purposes?

10. Is there anything that I am doing presently that needs to be postponed until another season?

11. Will what I am sowing in this season reap a good harvest in the next year?

12. Am I bearing fruit in the most important areas in this season of my life?

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REVIEW—PRIORITY

Last week, we began with Psalm 90:10 about our years being “cut off” and us “flying away.”

Psalm 90:10

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Stewarding well what we do within the years God gives us is of top priority. We do not have equal finances, health, skills, or opportunities to steward, and we don’t have equal number of years in which to steward.

But, each day we have the same amount of minutes and hours in which to steward all that God has given us.

Do we steward that time so as to the Lord?

So, last week we considered the Master, the mission, and the ground rules:

THE MASTER

God owns time. God has entrusted you with your time. You will one day give account to Him for how you have stewarded it.

THE MISSION

Discover and display the goodness and glory of God.

THE GROUND RULES

1. Obey the Master in each area of responsibility throughout your life.

2. The Master is in control of how much time you have .

3. Time is short, so we must be urgent about our stewardship.

OBSTACLES

*These obstacles are adapted from Do More Better by Tim Challies

OK. Christians must consider it urgent priority to use our time to show off the goodness and glory of God, trusting the wisdom and constraints of His commands and providence .

What gets in the way? Four obstacles. We’ll start with one that’s all through the Proverbs:

1. Laziness

If you’ve spent much time in the book of Proverbs, you’re quite familiar with what it calls “the sluggard.”

Here’s what Tim Challies writes,

“As you study the sluggard throughout Proverbs you will see that he is a man who refuses to begin new ventures, a man who will not finish what he has begun, a man who will not face reality and, through it all, a man who is restless, helpless, and useless. His life is chaotic because his soul is chaotic.” —Tim Challies, Do More Better, page 20.

Do you know someone who is lazy? Are you lazy? Am I lazy?

I want to pick up something about the sluggard in that quote I just read because I find it so insightful.

“His life is chaotic because his soul is chaotic.” How many people have tried to conquer laziness through better scheduling, better to-doing, better organization, better prioritization, better motivation—only to discover that the root of that laziness is far deeper?

Laziness is more than an issue of self-discipline. It is an issue of faith.

This is where laziness actually connects with our trust.

As the Greek philosopher, Plato, is known for saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

It is amazing how when we believe something is necessary, we become compelled, motivated, and energized to do it!

So how does this relate faith to laziness?

Well, the Christian’s faith is in God and what He has revealed in Scripture. Since God has made known what and why we must do certain things in the time He gives us, the one with faith in God and His Word is motivated out of laziness and into diligence—learning best practices along the way.

If we are not diligence to obey God, we must not believe Him.

God has told us two important things about time that the sluggard does not believe: that time is short , and that the rewards for using our time well are worth whatever they cost .

Remember, as we saw last week, the Biblical concepts of faith and rest converge through Scripture. In that sense, our job is to fight laziness with rest. Quite a concept that I appreciate being raised by the original writers of this series of lessons on stewardship.

Fighting laziness with rest. Not the sluggard’s fake rest of escape and inactivity. But the real rest of faith in God’s promises.

As one author put it,

“Laziness is not the reclusive passivity it pretends to be. It is active obedience to someone, to something other than Jesus Christ.” —Paul Maxwell

Learn to rest in God.

Laziness comes when we don’t believe that anything we do really matters ; rest in God’s promise that for the righteous, their deeds will last into eternity (Rev. 14:13).

Have you ever built a sand castle? The time spent doing that can be fun, and the memories can be lasting. But, the deed itself will not last. Praise God, the deeds of the righteous in Christ do last.

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Laziness comes when we get frustrated by setbacks and finally give up ; rest in God’s promise that He will use even those setbacks for our good (Romans 8:28).

I expect you can do the same, but I can look back and see very specific things in my life that could have been perceived as “setbacks” that instead were surely the good providential work of God! I can see more clearly today how God was working them for good then.

One of the clearest examples of this in Scripture is that of Joseph going through betrayal, slavery, and prison as the very means of God rescuing his family and followers of the LORD through famine.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Laziness comes when we do not believe that God is worth serving ; rest in God’s promise that if we taste him, we will discover that He truly is good (Psalm 34:8).

Have you ever been so ill that you didn’t want to eat, even though you needed to? But then you finally ate and were blessed with strength! Scripture calls the weak, lazy, sinful, and deceived, and says, “Come and taste. See that the LORD is good. Be blessed by trusting Him.”

Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Don’t let your feelings deceive you that serving the Lord is not worth it or what you need. O taste!

Laziness comes when we passively procrastinate instead of making decisions and taking actions (Proverbs 26:13-16); rest in God’s promise to lead you by His indwelling Spirit according to the life of Christ. (Romans 8:10-14)

It is so easy to do nothing because you don’t think you know what to do of because of fear of what might be. But you and I must not be like the slothful man who supposed there was a lion in the streets!

Proverbs 26:13–16

The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; A lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon his hinges, So doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; It grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit Than seven men that can render a reason.

This kind of laziness is called passivity. And passivity isn’t simply a personality thing or mental disorder—no matter what naturalistic voices say. It’s a sin thing.

Passivity goes all the way back to the fall as Adam—our first father—stood by while Eve ate the fruit. We would all do well to wake up to the level of passivity that still resides in our sin natures.

Laziness can be subtle, and it can be defended out of pride.

Decision-making and prioritizing is hard work. But it is work we all must do. Sometimes, it might help us to schedule when to study, pray, and think through a decision with a deadline.

In other words, schedule yourself an appointment to think through and make a decision—possibly with someone else.

More importantly than operational tactics, we must trust and seek the leadership of God’s Spirit, Who indwells us.

We must by faith seek God’s revealed will and apply it in our life through decisions and actions.

If we don’t know what to do in one area of our life, do what we know in all the others while we seek the Lord and pray! That is being wise.

Often, it is obedience to what Scripture clearly says is priority that clarifies what to do in the other areas over time.

And all this must be done with true reliance on God’s Spirit to enable us to live according to the way of Christ instead of the way of our natural and sinful desires.

Romans 8:10–14

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Very often, being a good steward of time means doing hard things, making decisions even though you don’t know which path is best. You pray, surround yourself with counsel, and truly seek first God’s purposes as given to us in Scripture.

But—and this is key—doing all that in faith. In faith that God is in control even if you make the wrong decision.

That’s all obstacle number 1, laziness. But there’s a second obstacle to good time stewardship:

2. Busyness

You might think that busyness is the opposite of laziness, but it’s not. At least, not often. We can be busy with the wrong things.

You’ve heard the expression, “don’t work harder, work smarter?” Well, that summarizes a lot of Biblical wisdom.

For the Christian, working smarter means being intentional to do the things that matter in God’s economy .

Listen to how Rebecca Jones describes this in an article for Christian women:

“We cross a line when we start parading our exhaustion, our circus, and our juggles. Broadcasting overbooked days makes us look ‘busier than thou,’ rendering us uninterruptible and unapproachable. Even the famed Proverbs 31 woman, who burnt her candles at both ends, still found time for people. And of course, Christ himself—who was often clawed-at and pressed-in-upon, who had to board a boat to speak to those on shore—was eminently interruptible. For him, people were the project.” —Rebecca Jones in an article in Christianity Today

Source: https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2018/april/lord-save-me-from-my-side-hustle.html

We live in an area full of busy people—often, as Jones puts it, “busier than thou”—and yet people who from the perspective of eternity are wasting much of their time.

So how can we protect our stewardship from wrong-headed busyness?

First,

No matter the apparent importance of any particular responsibility, don’t allow busyness to crowd out any of your God-given responsibilities.

This is why it is so important to know what God says about such responsibilities as:

1. Our called response to the Gospel of repentance and faith.

2. The Gospel’s demand to follow Jesus by obeying His teachings as the church.

3. Scripture’s instruction for stewarding the time, talents, treasure, and relationships God gives us.

4. Scripture’s instruction for Husband and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, and governments and citizens.

Without knowing, believing, and obeying these things, we end up saying things like:

My kids are my life.

I live for my job.

I am just putting in my time until retirement.

I can’t live without you.

And while that last statement might sound romantic, when truly lived out, it is crushing to live up to and could be idolatrous.

Second—and this advice is not particularly Christian but it’s still useful—

Remember the ever-present threat of the urgent crowding out the important .

Almost to a fault, I prioritize the important, non-urgent. I am often looking forward and working to invest my time into what I believe the Lord would have me do now to get where we are supposed to be going while in fellowship with Him.

I say almost to a fault because there are pitfalls to this, like:

Being unavailable

Being uncaring

Being wrong with priorities.

Not worshiping God.

As some are fond of saying, schedule and do your “big rocks” first. However you do it, work to keep your main priorities in view and protect them from busyness.

But also, trust God to “interrupt” and re-prioritize your plans.

And prioritize people and relationships in your seeking first the Kingdom of God.

Third—

Ask yourself, of all the priorities in front of you, which must be done by you .

God’s given us each of us unique skills and talents, constraints and opportunities. Some priorities are unique to you because you’re the only one who can do them.

Only you can parent your kids.

Only you can neighbor your neighbors. I am convicted about this one.

Only you can worship God from your heart.

Other priorities might be a particularly good fit because of unique skills that you have, or the lack of various constraints—or even the presence of various constraints.

As a pastor, I often have to decide of the many ways in which I could use my time to serve you, which are the things that I should do? The rest I need to delegate or just say no.

And what fits you best will likely change over time.

As Ecclesiastes 3 says,

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

• When you’re student-age, you might find that what you have an abundance is time.

• Then as a young adult, you have energy and enthusiasm.

• Further along, you have valuable skills but less time.

• And then as you grow older, wisdom and flexibility.

Fourth and finally—

We can so quickly feel that busyness equates to importance , equates to value .

But that’s just not true!

We can show off the goodness of God in rest, in leisure, in work, in ministry, in perseverance through trials.

Until you understand how you can glorify God in all those uses of time, you will struggle to figure out the best way to spend any of that time.

Any questions?

3. People-Pleasing

A third, and sometimes tragic obstacle to wise stewardship of time is the tendency so many of us have toward people-pleasing. Again, not a particularly Christian idea—but an idea with some very Christian answers.

Mahatma Gandhi, for example, said this:

“A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Or, getting back to Scripture, Galatians 1:10

Galatians 1:10

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

If you’re honest, how many items on your schedule are there either because you desire someone’s approval or fear someone’s disapproval ? Or, more broadly, how much of your schedule stems from idolatry rather than a desire to follow Jesus?

There is only One whose opinion really matters, only One whose priorities should ultimately shape your own, only One to whom you will give an account on the Last Day.

And hearts that are focused on seeking the Lord will do good to those for whom they are responsible and their neighbors.

To whatever extent your schedule is evidence of your desire to serve two masters, remember: you can’t.

Matthew 6:24

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

True of money, and true of any other would-be usurper for the throne of your life. Take a few minutes this afternoon to look through your last two weeks of commitments and circle any that are evidence of people-pleasing—or other idolatries—in your life.

4. Thorns and Thistles

Those first three obstacles have their roots in our sin, and the fourth does as well—though in a different way. Sometimes what attacks stewardship of time is the fallen-ness of our world. The thorns and thistles God has allowed to grow up as part of the curse we brought on this world through our sin.

Genesis 3:18

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Romans 8:20–21

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

No amount of wisdom in scheduling, skill in prioritization, or excellence in time management will successfully counter that God-ordained futility, at least not in this life. Sometimes, stuff happens. As we said in the lesson on rest, God is the only one who gets his to-do list done every day.

So what do you do with that? Similar to our lesson about rest,

Let those thorns and thistles remind you that God is God , you are not , and that is a very good thing.

God is about something much larger and grander than fun or productivity or accomplishment.

God is about showing off how amazing he is by rescuing this fallen world and releasing it to glorious freedom.

Even the futility of Ecclesiastes fits beautifully into that grand narrative.

So the next time your car breaks down on the way to that important meeting, or your toddler shreds a box of Kleenex all over the floor, or your brilliantly-planned romantic evening is rained out—remember that you cannot perfectly steward your time because you are not God and because we still await His full redemption of all things.

As a redeemed sinner, you live in a world subjected to futility and in that weakness you can by faith delight in and depend on God far more than if you were able to accomplish all the good you hoped to do this side of the resurrection.

The new heavens and earth will be that much sweeter because we know a restricted measure of how God could have left us under the consequences and curse of sin.

CONCLUSION

So what do you do with all this? Let me close with three thoughts:

1. First and most important, your time is not your own .

All you have belongs to God, and he has a purpose for your stewardship. If you take nothing else away from this study but this idea, and if it rattles around in your brain all week, it will do a lot of good.

What are God’s purposes for your time?

2. Be deliberate in how you invest God’s time .

The pastor and original writer of this study recommended questions from Carolyn Mahaney’s article on girltalkhome.com to examine each area of responsibility in her life. They’re included in the handout.

You might take some time at the beginning of your week, or your day, to pray through the commitments ahead of you—both to ask that God would accomplish his purposes through them and to consider whether they are aligned to his purposes.

You’ll also see included in the handout some questions from Tim Challies to help you be deliberate in your commitments.

No matter how you do it, being deliberate is important.

Proverbs 27:23–24

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: And doth the crown endure to every generation?

If that’s true for your sheep, how much more for your time! Your current stewardship is not forever!

3. Trust in the sovereign goodness of God.

You can tie yourself up in knots asking, “Am I making the absolute best use of the time”—and miss the whole point. The point is your faith, not your productivity.

Are you living your life to show off the goodness of God? Then well done. Mission accomplished.

In His sovereign goodness, He is orchestrating your life to be exactly the portrait of His glory that He intends.