Many people are so swamped with busy schedules that they are hardly spending any quality time in the presence of the Lord. While this is attributed to a lack of time, Dan Allender, author of  , says it may be about a wrong perspective on time. Dan suggests we might need to change our perspective on the amount of time we have.

How did we lose sight of God’s purpose for Sabbath? 

“We don’t ‘take time.’ Time is actually a created reality that we are meant to honor and submit to. In the same way, you can submit to a rock by acknowledging that it is too big to pick up. Time is one of those realities where if we understand that we can’t add a cubit we can’t take away a cubit – we have been given time.”

Instead of saying ‘I can’t take time for that,’ Dan encourages us to remember that we are given the gift of time and need to see it as something we receive from God.

“It’s not the word ‘take time’ but the idea that we have been given time and as a gift we get to determine how we want to use it for the sake of the One who gave it to us. If we see time not as ours to take, but as something we received that is given – then the question is do you have enough time. And we have all the time in the world to do what God desires.”

What keeps us from spending our time wisely?

Along with our own selfish desires and ambitions, Dan warns us of the dangers of idolatry and how it can steal time away that was meant for honoring God.

 “We feel pressure, but we also serve idols that demand that we be present 24/7…always moving, always committed. It can be a job, it can be a family, it can be children, that we feel like we have to be on for and that there really is not time to Sabbath.”

If we aren’t careful with the way we use God’s gift of time, our faithfulness and engagement level with Him may be compromised by demands in this world. By changing our perspective of time, we can remember that it is a precious gift from God meant to be treasured.

Highlight: The gift of time

God’s purpose for the Sabbath