It was a class on Time Management. The teacher took a big bucket and filled it with stones. Once it was filled with stones, he asked; ‘Is it full?’ Students replied loudly, ‘Yes.’ But the teacher took some small pieces of stone and filled the gap between the stones. Then he repeated the question, ‘Is it full?’ The students were in a dilemma. They were silent. The teacher took some sand and filled it in the bucket again. The bucket was full and no space left. He asked the question again, ‘Is it full?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ But the teacher was clever. He took some water and poured it into the bucket. The bucket contained the water too.

The professor asked the children about the message they received from the experiment. As it was a class on time management, one of the students understood the point and said, ‘Even those who complain of having no time, can find some valuable time left, if they try.’ The teacher interrupted and said, ‘the moral of this experiment is not so.’

It is because we filled the bucket with big stones first, that we could add more things into it. If you had gone with the small things first, you could have never filled it with big things.

Thus if you find time for important things first, then you could manage your time fruitfully and with ease. Time spent for unnecessary purposes, will take a lot of valuable time away from our life.

———————————————–

“I have no time to pray, love, speak with others or help others… not enough time to finish up my jobs. These are the complaints of the modern man. Even I had gone through this problem many times. But now I learn that God was not at the center of my life during those tough times. God is the most important factor in our life. Shortage of time is the result of God loosing importance in our life and less important matters finding more importance in our heart. In other words God has given us enough time to take over all the responsibilities that He has entrusted us.

When the Holy Spirit takes control of our life, we can find time for everything. The Holy Spirit helps us to accomplish more things in a short time. Sometime I find it difficult to write editorials for our periodicals. But when the Holy Spirit helps me I can do it even between the intervals of meetings or during a journey. The problem is not time, but the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Busy schedules and lack of time will lead us to spiritual aridity. God is never busy with anything. If we tune ourselves with God in prayer, we could find enough time. If we are not to lose important time, spend time with the most important in our life. Spend more time with God, we will find time to do our responsibilities that He has entrusted us.

Useless reading, unnecessary conversations through mobile phone, fruitless journeys, spending time in day dreams and thoughts of despair… if we could be free from it, we would find enough time for useful and fruitful things. For this we need the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray: “Dear Lord, teach me to use my time fruitfully.”

- – - written by Benny Punnathara

Large, reddish black ants in bathroom again. Lights on- they’d scurry to hide; lights off- they’d come right back in.

Using my Nancy Drew skills, I followed one that seemed to be on the way out. He wandered off his path a bit, and eventually came to a back corner of the window sill.

There was a hole about an eight of an inch in diameter, plenty big enough for several to come and go at the same time. From somewhere outside, they had been able to chew or bore that hole, which hadn’t even been there two weeks before.

Amazing the persistence, and team work, of ants. I have seen tiny ants gather around a crumb, or a dead bug, and drag or lift (!) it to move it. It seems when they have a goal, nothing deters them. They might have an interruption (like the lights coming on), they may get sidetracked or even off-track, but they get right back to it. They keep the focus on the goal, determined. Like our marathon bike touring friends, who were riding in the downpours. They had a goal to meet and raise funds for a worthy cause.

This was a good reminder, and example to me, of a verse that was written in the front of a Bible, given to me many years ago at confirmation. The pastor wrote, next to my name, Phil. 3:14. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The redeeming part of this ant story is that it reminds me to stay focused, to keep first things first, and to persevere, to keep on keepin’ on. Good news is that I (and we) don’t have to do it alone. Thank you, Lord.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9

He was just a little boy, on a week’s first day. He was wandering home from Sunday School, and dawdling on the way. He scuffed his shoes into the grass; he found a caterpillar. He found a fluffy milkweed pod, and blew out all the “filler.”

A bird’s nest in a tree overhead, so wisely placed on high, Was just another wonder that caught his eager eye. A neighbor watched his zig zag course, and hailed him from the lawn, Asked him where he’d been that day and what was going on.

“I’ve been to Bible School,” he said and turned a piece of sod. He picked up a wiggly worm replying, “I’ve learned a lot of God.”

“M’m very fine way,” the neighbor said, “for a boy to spend his time. If you’ll tell me where God is, I’ll give you a brand new dime.”

Quick as a flash the answer came! Nor were his accents faint. ”I’ll give you a dollar, Mister, if you can tell me where God ain’t.”