From Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, by Donald Whitney, on stewardship of time...
Even without the kind of persecution or opposition known by the Christians of Paul's day, the world we live in is not conducive to using time wisely, especially for purposes of spirituality and Godliness. In fact, our days are days of active evil. There are great thieves of time that are the minions of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. They may range in form from high-tech, socially acceptable preoccupations to simple, idle talk or ungoverned thoughts. But the natural course of our minds, our bodies, our world, and our days leads us toward evil, not toward Christlikeness (p. 132; some emphases mine).There's hardly a more sobering statement in Scripture than Romans 14:12: "So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God." The words "each one of us" apply to Christians and nonChristians alike. And though believers will be saved by grace and not by works, once in Heaven our reward there will be determined on the basis of our works. The Lord will "test the quality of each man's work," and for each it will be either that "he will receive his reward" or "he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). So not only will we be held accountable for our time, but our eternal reward will be directly related to our earthly use of time (p. 136).If you suddenly realized you had no more time, would you regret how you have spent your time in the past and how you spend it now? The way you have used your time can be a great comfort to you in your last hour. You may not be happy with some of the ways you used your time, but won't you be pleased then for all the times of Spirit-filled living, for all occasions when you have obeyed Christ?... What great wisdom there is in living as Jonathan Edwards resolved to live: "Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die" (p. 138-139; emphasis mine).
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