Let's do some math...
There are 168 hours in a week. This is something we all share, no one person has more or less than another. We are all equally rich in time.
The 'average' sleep time for an adult is approximately 7.5 hours each night. Some of you may think, "I need lots more sleep than that!" Others - "I don't ever get to sleep that much!" So to be safe, we'll just go ahead and say 9 hours of sleep, and hopefully we'll cover most people. Nine hours per night for seven nights taken from the 168 hours we started with, leaves us with 105 hours. So, we are awake for more than 100 hours a week. If you happen to only require 6 hours of sleep per night, then you're awake for 126 hours a week.
Most people have to work for a living, and the average work week is 46 hours. Some may work less and some may work more - so again, let's take a large number and say 60 hours is what you work in a week. Most people that work 60 hours would probably be working Saturdays as well. For the sake of taking an average, we'll just say everyone has at least one day off per seven days from their paying job. Working sixty hours in 6 days means that you're putting in 10 hours per day (genius, I know). If you happen to be a rare breed and sleep 9 hours per night and still work 60 hours a week, you're left with 5 hours each work day of the week that you're awake...and you still have the one day off, which is 15 hours. So, add the five hours each day to the 15 hours on the day you have off and you're left with 45 waking hours each week. Now I know that some of you math whizzes are saying, "You circled the lake when you could have crossed the bridge!" but I wanted to show my work and give you an idea of the time you had each day.
Let's say it takes 2.5 hours for meal time in the evening. That includes preparation, eating, and clean-up (I know some food takes all day to cook or bake or whatever, but I'm only counting the time you're actually working on the food - not letting it sit in the crock pot or oven). I know some people take longer to prepare food and eat and cleanup than others, but remember...we're talking about someone that's working 60 hours a week and sleeping 9 hours a night - those people usually eat take-out! Breakfast usually takes up no more than one hour and lunch would be included in the working hours. So with all the time taken out for eating, sleeping and working (in an extreme situation with over-exaggerated averages) we are left with 1.5 hours per working day and 15 hours on the day off, which leaves us with a grand total of 24 hours.
A church service in America, on average, lasts around 78 minutes. Seventy-eight minutes translates to 1 hour and 18 minutes - we'll round up to 2 hours. If you happen to fall into the category that I described above and only attend church for the Sunday morning service, you're giving God less than ten percent of your 'leftover' time each week. You might be saying, "Yeah, but I read my bible everyday before I go to work!" - If you spend ten minutes in prayer and study each day, you're giving just over ten percent of your 'leftover' time each day.
Most Americans work 15-20 hours less than 60 hours a week and sleep 3-4 hours less than 9 hours per night. In those cases you could be left with 10 hours per work day and 100 hours each working week in which you aren't working, eating, or sleeping. In such cirumstances, if you spend less than one hour per working day seeking God through either prayer, bible study, or some other form of worship, you're in the same boat as the over-exaggerated example. If you spend 5 hours each week at your church during services (Sunday a.m. and p.m. and Wednesday p.m.) and have no personal quiet time in prayer and study, you're giving God approximately 2 percent of your time that's 'leftover'.
I know there are a lot more things that take up our time than just eating, sleeping, and working - such as getting ready in the morning, dropping the kids off at school, filling my car up with gas, paying my bills, mowing my yard, harvesting my garden, cleaning my house, going to my son's Teeball game, etc. But here's my point: when we offer God our firstfruits, everything else will take its place.
Don't try to fit a quiet time into your busy schedule, it will never happen. Do it and work everything else around your time with God. If you're already running excuses and daily plans through your head, STOP...you're headed down the same dead end street that's kept you from doing it for years.
There are 168 hours in a week. This is something we all share, no one person has more or less than another. We are all equally rich in time.
The 'average' sleep time for an adult is approximately 7.5 hours each night. Some of you may think, "I need lots more sleep than that!" Others - "I don't ever get to sleep that much!" So to be safe, we'll just go ahead and say 9 hours of sleep, and hopefully we'll cover most people. Nine hours per night for seven nights taken from the 168 hours we started with, leaves us with 105 hours. So, we are awake for more than 100 hours a week. If you happen to only require 6 hours of sleep per night, then you're awake for 126 hours a week.
Most people have to work for a living, and the average work week is 46 hours. Some may work less and some may work more - so again, let's take a large number and say 60 hours is what you work in a week. Most people that work 60 hours would probably be working Saturdays as well. For the sake of taking an average, we'll just say everyone has at least one day off per seven days from their paying job. Working sixty hours in 6 days means that you're putting in 10 hours per day (genius, I know). If you happen to be a rare breed and sleep 9 hours per night and still work 60 hours a week, you're left with 5 hours each work day of the week that you're awake...and you still have the one day off, which is 15 hours. So, add the five hours each day to the 15 hours on the day you have off and you're left with 45 waking hours each week. Now I know that some of you math whizzes are saying, "You circled the lake when you could have crossed the bridge!" but I wanted to show my work and give you an idea of the time you had each day.
Let's say it takes 2.5 hours for meal time in the evening. That includes preparation, eating, and clean-up (I know some food takes all day to cook or bake or whatever, but I'm only counting the time you're actually working on the food - not letting it sit in the crock pot or oven). I know some people take longer to prepare food and eat and cleanup than others, but remember...we're talking about someone that's working 60 hours a week and sleeping 9 hours a night - those people usually eat take-out! Breakfast usually takes up no more than one hour and lunch would be included in the working hours. So with all the time taken out for eating, sleeping and working (in an extreme situation with over-exaggerated averages) we are left with 1.5 hours per working day and 15 hours on the day off, which leaves us with a grand total of 24 hours.
A church service in America, on average, lasts around 78 minutes. Seventy-eight minutes translates to 1 hour and 18 minutes - we'll round up to 2 hours. If you happen to fall into the category that I described above and only attend church for the Sunday morning service, you're giving God less than ten percent of your 'leftover' time each week. You might be saying, "Yeah, but I read my bible everyday before I go to work!" - If you spend ten minutes in prayer and study each day, you're giving just over ten percent of your 'leftover' time each day.
Most Americans work 15-20 hours less than 60 hours a week and sleep 3-4 hours less than 9 hours per night. In those cases you could be left with 10 hours per work day and 100 hours each working week in which you aren't working, eating, or sleeping. In such cirumstances, if you spend less than one hour per working day seeking God through either prayer, bible study, or some other form of worship, you're in the same boat as the over-exaggerated example. If you spend 5 hours each week at your church during services (Sunday a.m. and p.m. and Wednesday p.m.) and have no personal quiet time in prayer and study, you're giving God approximately 2 percent of your time that's 'leftover'.
I know there are a lot more things that take up our time than just eating, sleeping, and working - such as getting ready in the morning, dropping the kids off at school, filling my car up with gas, paying my bills, mowing my yard, harvesting my garden, cleaning my house, going to my son's Teeball game, etc. But here's my point: when we offer God our firstfruits, everything else will take its place.
Don't try to fit a quiet time into your busy schedule, it will never happen. Do it and work everything else around your time with God. If you're already running excuses and daily plans through your head, STOP...you're headed down the same dead end street that's kept you from doing it for years.
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
