The following is an adaptation from Dr. Crystal Evans’ teaching called “Christmas, It’s Time!”

Often as we go through our life, we find ourselves concerned with time. “Is this the right time to do something? Is it going to be the right time for this person? Will I have enough time?” These are all questions we have in our mind as we look at our life and what we choose to do. We also question God’s timing. “Why haven’t I gotten this yet?” and “Why are you letting this happen to me NOW?” are two major questions we come to God with.

We see throughout the Bible that God’s timing is precise. It reminds us of Gandalf’s quote in the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring, “A wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.” We also see that our time is a gift from God. As we close another year out, we tend to focus on the things we didn’t accomplish and note that there just isn’t enough time to get it done.

Coming into the New Year, treating your time as a gift from God can radically alter how you spend it. When you decide on what you want to accomplish this upcoming year, decide on how you will invest your time to reach those accomplishments. Whether that means plotting out and committing to a gym schedule, a class schedule or even just a reading schedule, take the time to invest your time.

When you invest your time, you increase the value of that time. Focus this week on planning out what you want to do and see if you can eliminate a few of the things that don’t benefit you. You’ll see in the long run that you’ll be where you want to be, much faster.

Northwest Gold is a series of easy-to-digest wisdom from the best Northwest teachings. To learn more on this topic, check out the full teaching “Christmas, It’s Time!” and also view more teachings like this on the Advent sermon series page.