“A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest….” Time is addressed again and again throughout the Bible. Why? Perhaps because it is crucial for us to understand that the time one has on Earth is short. Important decisions must be made during that span of time which impact one’s eternity. And those consequences last for more time than our brains can even truly understand.
While those biblical concepts are critical for children and teens to understand, there is another angle that most be discussed and mastered. While God wants us to enjoy His creation (or else He could have made it drab and boring) – that’s not all He wants us to do. The Bible makes it clear that in addition to obedience, Christians have two major tasks – to do the good works God has planned and to share the Gospel message with the world.
What should excite Christians, however, rarely gets done by many of them. Other Christians think they can pay others to do the work meant for them by writing checks to churches and ministries. While checks are great, God also expects us to give of our time. Yet, almost everyone who doesn’t regularly serve and/or share their faith will claim it is because they just don’t have enough time. Which is interesting, because they all seem to have streamed the latest content, attended sporting, music or theater events and gone on trips.
It’s not that Christians are intentionally lying, but rather their time is so poorly managed, it seems to run out before anything crucial is ever accomplished. What if we made time management and organizational skills part of the Christian life skills curriculum we teach to children and teens? What would happen if we actually teach them how to organize and schedule their time so there are consistent blocks of time devoted to practicing spiritual disciplines, serving and faith sharing? Satan may help those who don’t want to accept their mission from God find other excuses, but lack of time will no longer be an option as an excuse for most.
You don’t have to develop an entirely new curriculum. For any Bible story that contains an element of time, change the activities provided and use ones that teach time management and organizational skills. Don’t forget to include a discussion of priorities. If serving God is really the most important thing in our lives, most will make the time to do it.