Last week I talked about working at UPS at the Airport in the morning as my current Tentmaking strategy. What we basically do is sort the packages that need to be delivered that day that flew in on big planes onto smaller planes and trucks to be sent out to the smaller buildings around the state (where the packages are given to drivers to be delivered).  Yep… that is basically what we do…

But the big issue with this job is that we need to complete our task incredibly quickly, and the task cannot start until the big planes bring the packages to us.  When the process works well we can be at work for less than 2 hours… but there is rarely a week when the process works all week long.  Planes are delayed because of weather, either here or at their sending location.  Mechanical issues can mean that the doors to the jets are stuck in a half open position.  Everything can be working smoothly until lightning strikes close by and we can’t go outside to load the small planes.  And all of the people who work for UPS are humans so there are all kinds of chances for honest mistakes.

All of this adds up to every once in a while all of us are as productive as possible AND are standing around talking about the Vikings’ game because there is no work to do.

This morning had one of those times.  We had completed all of the work that was in the building and we were waiting for the last jet to come in so that we could process the volume it contained.

It was in this moment that a verse popped into my head:

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:16-16

I was standing there talking with a co-worker about essential oils and his mother-in-law who grew up in India and it hit me, “I could be getting my Bible reading for the day completed right now, and here I am building a relationship with my co-worker”

At a natural break in the conversation, I excused myself and went and sat by myself and pulled out my phone to start reading.

There was a moment where I wanted to pat myself on the back… but then I realized that I had just walked away from a chance to share how God has expressed His love for us by giving us plants that can aid our bodies to work well, and I was sitting by myself staring at my phone just like everyone else…

What is a good use of our time?  Reading the Bible to get to know more about who God is? Sharing who He is with someone else?  I think both are a great way to spend the 15 minutes of down time waiting for the Louisville jet to show up.  Which is better?  Which is best?

There are so many good options about how you can use your day.  So many wonderful opportunities to interact with God and with those whom He loves.  Knowing what are good uses of your time is typically easy.  A good rule of thumb might be “is the thing you are doing helping you get to know God or someone whom He loves better?”  Knowing which of the good uses of our time is a better use of the time is a quite a bit more difficult.  Knowing the best use of time? I would dare say that it is impossible.  So how are we going to ever know what the best use of our time is, especially since the days are evil?

I think that this week I want to hear from you about how you have dealt with this in the past.  How do you do it?  Write a comment bellow, or contact me at dave@graftedcc.com!  Maybe next week we can create a summation of the conversations!