So, you have $86,400 in your account and someone stole $10 from you. Would you be upset and throw all of the $86,390 away in hopes of getting back at the person that took your $10? Or move on and live? Right, move on and live. See, we have 86,400 seconds in every day so don’t let someone’s negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390. Don’t sweat the small stuff, life is bigger than that. -Unknown

This is a really good piece of wisdom. I try to think of this when someone cuts me off on the road or says something rude to me. I try but I am not always successful. It really is such a waste to allow 10 seconds to ruin my whole day. We are all given 86,400 seconds each day and it is up to us how we will use them.

Less than half of the 86,400 seconds we have each day will be applied to sleep, but the rest will be divided up between work/school, family, self-care and other things. We allocate our time according to needs and demands. The “needs” are things we do to maintain our well-being (physical, mental, and spiritual) such as eating, sleeping, and relationships. The “demands” are the supplemental actions that enable us to meet the “needs” such as work and school. But what happens when the “demands” take priority over the “needs”?

In this Sunday’s scripture, Luke 16:1-13, Jesus shares a parable about an unrighteous manager. In the parable, the manager has managed the resources of a rich man very poorly. When the manager discovers that he is to be fired for his poor management, the manager shifts into self-preservation mode and immediately takes actions to take care of himself. The action the manager takes is dishonest, but ironically the rich man praises him for this. WHAT!?!? Why would Jesus share a parable where dishonesty is praised? Well, the rich man isn’t praising the manager for dishonesty but rather recognizing that resources given by the rich man served a purpose and the manager has finally discovered that. Confused? Yes, I was too at first. Let me put it another way.

God has given you 86,400 seconds today, suppose you discovered that you wouldn’t live after the 86,400th second passed. Knowing that, would you not do all you could with the 86,400 seconds you have before they are gone? Where would you invest those seconds? In Luke 16:13, Jesus says that we cannot serve two masters, God and money. If today were your last day, what future are you working towards? Will money meet you in eternity? The truth is that we don’t know what second will be our last, but we should know what future we are working towards.

A good manager of a company knows how to best allocate the resources of that business to meet its goal(s). It is time we reallocate the resources God has given to us to meet the purpose(s) that God has called each of us to. Join us this Sunday, September 22nd as we continue this discussion both in class at 9:30 AM and worship at 10:30 AM.

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church