Page 42 - Faith-Based Workbook 8-27-18

TOPUCU Adult Faith-Based Workbook
LESSON 6: PART 1
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR 168?
Today’s lesson is titled, “How Do You Spend
Your 168?” Actually, it could have been
titled, “How Do You Spend Your 700,000.”
If you haven’t figured it out by now, we’re
talking about time. 168 is the number of
hours in a week. The 700,000 number is
the approximate amount of hours a person
is given if they lived 46 days past their 80
th
birthday. What will transform your life is
how you spend them.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best
use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but
understand what the will of the Lord is." — Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV)
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, during a
lengthy passage detailing several points on
how the church should behave as children
of the Light, the apostle writes, “Look
carefully then how you walk, not as unwise
but as wise, making the best use of the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand what the will of
the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV) This
concept of using your time wisely is repeated
throughout scripture. In this lesson we are
going to learn how champions take charge of
this principle. We are also going to learn how
most people have no understanding of how
valuable each hour is. As with the previous
lessons, part one will serve to give you an
understanding regarding the concept of time.
The second part will give you the secrets
and tools you will need to accomplish a
transformation in this area of your life.
So let’s get to it. As mentioned earlier, there
are 168 hours in a week. To some of you, it
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sounds like a lot. To some of you it doesn’t
sound like nearly enough. Either way, you
have to learn how to maximize your time. As
an illustration, let’s examine the amount of
time you spend sleeping. If you sleep eight
hours a night that adds up to 56 hours a
week, leaving you with 112 hours to get stuff
done. And if you’re a person who sleeps late
at every given opportunity then you have
even less hours. On the flipside, not many
champions are known to sleep a full eight
hours. When you’re a growing child you need
all the sleep you can get. But when you’re an
adult you need less. Champions understand
this principle and by giving themselves a
couple extra hours per day, they can gain
14 hours a week which equals an extra 728 a
year. That adds up to 30 extra days. Imagine
what you could do with 30 extra days. Two
hours a day doesn’t seem like much, but it’s
literally one-twelfth of your lifetime. Are you
starting to understand the value of time?
Let’s dive deeper. Now after your eight hours
of sleep, you have to factor in your weekly
routines and responsibilities - if you have a
job or you’re a student then subtract another
40 to 60 hours. So now you’re down to
approximately 50 hours in your week. That’s
already more than 100 fewer hours than you
began with, but it’s still a lot. Now sure, some
of that is going to be dedicated to family
responsibilities and obligations, but in the
end you have approximately 30 or so hours
every week to use at your own discretion.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people
waste most of those hours. You need to learn
how to maximize those hours.
Time may be the most valuable asset you
have in your toolbox for success. But unlike
other tools – and this can be said with a
great degree of certainty - once it’s gone
you can never get it back. Proverbs 27:1 says
very plainly, “Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.”
(NIV) There’s no way to tell whether or not
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any of us will hit that 700,000 hour and
make it to 80. Maybe your life will be shorter;
maybe it will be longer. But one thing is for
"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know
what a day may bring." — Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)
sure; you’ll eventually get to that last hour
and breathe that last breath. To give you a
further understanding of the value of time,
let’s look at it this way. Let’s say you’ve
struggled your entire life financially and
suddenly you win the lottery. Wow, you’re a
millionaire, just like that! Then the next day
as you’re on your way to deposit that check,
your heart stops and you die right then and
there. All that money, and you never get the
time to spend a single dollar of it. You can’t
get time back. There is story after story of
millionaires who tried to buy more time.
They would have given up their fortunes for
more hours. But no matter how hard they
tried the clock still ran out. By now, you’re
probably thinking, “Geez, what an uplifting
message.” Believe it or not, the goal of
this message is not to depress you, but to
emphasize the importance of time. Once it’s
gone, you can’t get it back.
In an earlier lesson we spoke about Dr.
Benjamin Carson. Because of the decisions
Lesson 6: Part 1
of his mother and his own choices, he
decided to turn off the television and started
reading. As a result he gave more value to
his time. It was time invested, rather than
time wasted. This transformation from idle
time to constructive time transformed his life
and enabled him to become one of the most
well-known surgeons in the world.
Let’s also look at this parable that Jesus
told. He spoke of a man who was going
on a journey and had decided to leave his
servants in charge of his estate. To the first
servant he gave 5 talents (a representation
of an amount of money). To the second
servant he gave 2 talents and to the third
he gave one. When the master returned, he
found that the first and second servants had
taken the money, invested it and doubled
their original amounts. The third servant
however, had taken his portion and buried it.
He thought his master would be happy, but
instead his master was disappointed because
the servant had failed to optimize his time
and his opportunity.
We all struggle with spending our hours
doing unfruitful, idle things. We all want
pleasure and self-gratification. You’re now
in Lesson Six and from the previous lessons
you’ve learned that this is unacceptable. You
must do the things you don’t want to do if
you really want to become the person you
want to become. You have to be the one in
your group who does things differently. You
have to break the mold. When your friend
say let’s mess around or hang out, you have
to say, no, I’ve got something better to do.
I’m going to do something constructive.
I’m going to do something that will lead to
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