Let your imagination run wild. Just pretend that you have just won a contest. The prize is awesome. Every morning the bank will open an account in your name containing eighty six thousand four hundred dollars. There are just two rules you must follow. The first rule is simple. Everything you fail to spend is removed from your account that night. No cheating. You can’t switch the unused amount to another bank or account. You can only spend it. Each morning after that, the bank will credit your account with a new eighty-six thousand four hundred dollars. The second rule may seem a little harsh. The bank can break off the game at any time without warning and close the account permanently. When your account is closed, there will never be another one to take its place.
Interested? Can you live with that? You bet! I would be set for life. No worries, no cares, no burdens, just a bank account that goes as long as I live.
TAKE TIME TO THINK! This seems to be a lost art in our modern age. To find the time to sit alone and think draw heavily on your memories and picture in your mind the various ones who have touched your life and made it sweeter. Think things over before you decide. Sleep on major decisions involving investments. Think of consequences. Be optimistic and think.
TAKE TIME TO PLAY! “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Use some time for sports. Take time with your kids to play. They will love it and you will be better for it. Fish and think. Hunt and think. Exercise the mind while you exercise the body. Look in the drawers and pull out table games for you and your family. Listen to your children ‘howl’ when they win it relaxes the mind, and renews your spirit. Take time to play.
TAKE TIME TO READ! After all you have six thousand four hundred minutes in every day. I had never read a book of five hundred pages until I began to read “THE FIRM” by John Grisham. Half way through I wished it was a thousand pages. Now that all of his books are in my personal library, I have him to thank for starting me on the wonderful road of reading. You know I have read numerous books, but most were related to my ministry. I never read just to enjoy life through the eyes of others. It takes time but it is a time well spent.
TAKE TIME TO LOVE AND BE LOVED! Never pass by your loved ones without touching. Simple words are often left unsaid, and time goes by without the simple words, “I love you”. This is a God given privilege. The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God”(I John 4:7). Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you . . .by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 14:34-35).
TAKE TIME TO BE FRIENDLY! Learn to call your neighbors by name. Visit in the street or by the way. Just a moment in time can lift the spirit of a hearts that’s heavy. It’s hard to give a rose without the beauty and fragrance remaining on your hand. The wise man said, “If you want friends, you have to be friendly”. Take time to laugh, it’s the music of the soul. If I could picture God with two expressions, then one would be in hearty laughter and the other would be with tears streaming down his face. Sit-coms on the tube will never do it. We don’t have real comedians any more. Clean stories and humorous jokes are few. Johnny Carson died and no one took his place. Red Skelton mimes have passed away and no one has even tried to fill his shoes. Take time to laugh and never be ashamed of your tears. They both will help you see deeper into heaven.
TAKE TIME TO GIVE! Giving is a grace not a commandment. Religions often try to make commandments out of the graces of God. We are not commanded to pray. This is the privilege of a believer. You cannot command mercy or love or gratitude. They all come under the marvelous grace of giving. That’s what time is all about. Goethe gave the following requisites of contented living. Health: enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth: enough to support your needs. Strength: Enough to battle the difficulties of life and overcome them. Grace: Enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience: Enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity: Enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love: Enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Hope: Enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.” All of these things are the fruits of love and giving…
TAKE TIME TO WORK! Not only is it the price of success, but it is a way to lay your burdens down as you plow the ground in honest work. Mother always said, “There’s always room for a worker”. Thank God each night for your 0.