Making the most of out of your time to get what’s important to God accomplished

This bible study is just a little different than the others, but highlights an important and practical aspect of our holiness. I love the gospel of Mark. Its probably my favorite, if such a thing is even possible to have. Mark’s gospel is an exciting testament Jesus’  life —and works— told almost like a commentator would give you a play by play, blow by blow account of a fast paced sports event.

Believed to be the first of the synoptics written, Mark portrays Christ as the man who gets things done in dramatic fashion. One can sense the urgency and immediacy of Jesus’ mission. In the first chapter alone, Mark uses the word “immediately” no less than 8 times. Jesus doesn’t sit around and hold long conversations with people, he gets the job done.

Mark sees Christ a one who evoked great wonder, amazement, and awe from  those who encountered him.  “They were astonished at his teaching” (Mk 1:22); “they were all amazed” (Mk 1:27); “they were utterly astounded” (Mk 6:51); “the disciples were amazed at his words” (Mk 10:24).

The dialogue is punctuated and full of action! Its edge-of-your-seat drama.  In fact, Mark uses the words “immediately” and “straightway” numerous times to make Jesus a man of productivity. Its an important lesson for us as followers of Christ.

How can we translate this facet of Christ and be inspired to emulate him  in our everyday life? We can do it by being more aware and gauging our own personal productivity. Personal productivity can be defined as unsupervised action ending in accomplishment.

While the first thought when you hear the phrase “personal productivity” is business, its not confined just to the business arena, but is a strong and vital component of Christian living. Without a personal motivation to get things done, the work of the Kingdom assigned to you will not be fulfilled.

If there’s an antonym to personal productivity it would be lazy procrastination. In the scriptures, laziness is portrayed as sinful and evil, whereas completing a job as well as being productive and fruitful is honorable and pleasing to God (John 15:8).

Time Management –David Allen, a productivity consultant says: “You can’t manage time, it just is.” Thus, “time management” is a mislabeled problem which has little chance of being an effective approach. What you really manage is your activity during time, and defining outcomes and physical actions required is the core process required to manage what you do.

Building a scaffold or a “structure”  to get you disciplined and consistent.

A scaffold is a temporary structure that supports tools, materials, and people while erecting or repairing a building.  A similar construct can be used to improve your personal productivity.  Much like wearing braces to reposition crooked teeth, a personal productivity scaffold is something you can temporarily insert into your daily routine to help create and establish new habits.  Once those habits are conditioned, the scaffolding can be removed.

Or there any other examples in the Bible about this?
Yes, there are several strong examples of personal productivity and good work ethic.

Work ethic #1 – adopt God’s (Genesis 1, 2:1)

Work ethic #2 – consider the ant’s (Prov 6:6-8)

Work ethic #3 – spiritual productivity (John 9:4)

Here’s a practical application scaffold you can use:

Objective – define your goal. The objective is basically a broad thesis statement on your overall intent and outcome.

Strategy– set your path. This is the intermediate level to help you reach your objective. While more detailed than the objective, it is less detailed than the action plan.

Action Plan – work it out. This is a specific and detailed guide to activating the strategy, thus achieving your objective. Your action plan needs to include a “time element” to help you defeat excuse loopholes.

Try it this week and get something done for the Kingdom of God!