There is no question that God readily blesses us with every blessing and need that we have when we surrender our lives to Him (and sometimes even blesses those who don't), but one thing that people forget is that Jesus taught us that God is not so much concerned about how we receive His blessing, but how we manage it.
When Jesus took to the cross the sin of mankind, He made every promise and breakthrough now available to anyone who believes. That's the privilege we now have in this new covenant. We receive freely resources that we can use to fulfil God's call in our lives.
Most believers think of the concept of resources and remember just the money aspect of God's blessing. However, God has given us more than just money. He has also given us time and talents to be used to honour Him and He's just as concerned about what we do with the time and talents that He gives us.
Concerning the parable of the talents, Jesus declares in Matthew 25:29, "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." God is very much concerned about how we deal with the resources He gives to us - money, talent and time.
Looking at how you use the resource that is time which God has provided you with abundantly, are you using it in a way that honours God? Do you stick to schedules as much as you can and give enough time to things that matter most, such as your relationship with God and relationship with others?
To live a life that completely neglects the importance of promptness is a life that completely neglects the importance of the value of time - and the thing we should be giving it to. If you are always late to meet your spouse, how do you think they will feel? If you are always late to church, how do you think God feels? Time is attention, and attention is love.
So with poor time-keeping, not just our time is devalued, but also those who should be receiving our time. In the eyes of Jesus, this is pretty much like a servant misusing by undervaluing the resources that He has given us.
Jesus is the master who has given us all resources to be used for the kingdom of God. Some have been given more and some have been given less, but we have been given these resources - time included - nonetheless so we can put it to good use.
That's why it's important to value your time and the time of others as well because Jesus values the time He has given us and others, and He wants us to value it just as much. One way we do this best is by avoiding being late and respecting other people's time. So, live as if you are doing everything not for man - or for yourself - but for God.
