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The Entrusted Life
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Stewardship of Time and Discipline

Stewardship of Time

What the Bible says about time management. A 5 minute read.

The Short Answer

Your time is not yours. Every hour is entrusted to you by God, and a steward of time asks a different question than a time manager. A time manager asks, "How do I get more done?" A steward asks, "What has God given me today, and what does He want done with it?"

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NIV)

Six Principles of Biblical Time Management

Each principle comes from a post in our Stewardship of Time and Discipline series. Read the principle here, then go deeper in the full teaching.

1. Your days are numbered, so count them.

Moses prayed Psalm 90 after watching a generation die in the wilderness. Life is short, and wisdom starts when you stop living as if it were not. Counting your days is not morbid. It is how you decide what deserves them.

Go deeper: Numbering Our Days (Psalm 90)

2. Time is a gift to enjoy, not a possession to control.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV).

Ecclesiastes calls life a breath. You cannot hold on to it, store it or own it. You can receive each season from God's hand and enjoy it while it lasts.

Go deeper: Everything Is Breath (Ecclesiastes 1 to 12)

3. Gather what today requires, and rest.

"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:9-10, NIV).

In the wilderness God sent manna one day at a time. What was hoarded spoiled, and on the sixth day He gave enough for the Sabbath (Exodus 16). Faithfulness with time means doing today's work fully and trusting God with tomorrow, including the day you stop.

Go deeper: Enough for Today (Exodus 16), and for help with burnout, Sabbath Rest for Leaders

4. You were not made to carry it all alone.

"You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone." (Exodus 18:18, NIV)

Moses judged the people from morning till evening until his father-in-law told him the truth. Delegation is not laziness. Doing everything yourself is often pride disguised as diligence.

Go deeper: Morning Till Evening (Exodus 18)

5. Sometimes the wait is the assignment.

Saul was told to wait for Samuel. When the deadline pressed and the people scattered, he acted on his own, and it cost him the kingdom (1 Samuel 13:8-14). Some of the hardest stewardship of time is the time you do not fill.

Go deeper: The Wait Was the Assignment (1 Samuel 13 and 14)

6. Idle time drifts toward temptation.

In the spring, when kings went to war, David stayed home (2 Samuel 11:1). The fall that followed began with a leader out of position. Rest is commanded. Drift is not rest.

Go deeper: The Idle Season (2 Samuel 11)

Redeeming the Time

Paul tells believers to live wisely,

"making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16, NIV).

Older translations call it redeeming the time. The idea is the same: buy back the hours from waste and spend them on what matters to God.

A Simple Weekly Practice

  1. Count. Look at the week ahead and name the three things that matter most to God in it.
  2. Gather. Put those first on the calendar, before the urgent things fill it.
  3. Hand off. Name one task someone else could do, and give it away.
  4. Rest. Protect one day, or at least one block of time, where you stop and trust God with the work.

Read the Series in Order

  1. Numbering Our Days: Psalm 90 and the wisdom of a short life
  2. Everything Is Breath: Ecclesiastes and the joy of stewarding a fleeting life
  3. Enough for Today: Exodus 16 and the discipline of daily bread
  4. Morning Till Evening: Exodus 18 and the leader who cannot do it alone
  5. The Wait Was the Assignment: trusting God's timing in 1 Samuel 13 and 14
  6. The Idle Season: 2 Samuel 11 and the leader out of position

See all Stewardship of Time and Discipline articles, or start with What Is Biblical Stewardship? for the bigger picture.

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