Entrepreneurial Education: Making the Most of the Gift of Time

By Matt Hannan, Faculty

Ecclesiastes is perhaps best known for helping us to understand time from a biblical perspective. One of my favorite chapters for instructing young people is Ecclesiastes 12. It is an evocative poem about growing old and losing independence and agency over our lives. Once we are elderly, the decisions about how we have invested our time are already made. The wheels of our life have set such deep ruts in our paths that we can no longer turn to the left or to the right. We must be headed in the right direction before it is too late.

In the developed world, we are granted, on average, 25,550 days of life on Earth. This is by the pure grace of God; we have done nothing to deserve them. And the bulk of how we spend our time is the proof of our passions, but it is also the inevitable trajectory of where we will end our journey. How have we invested in ways that build the Kingdom of God, promote our spiritual health, and run the race in such a way as to win the prize? How have we been frivolous with our time in ways that move us along a different path?

I cannot help but think of Pilgrim walking along the path to the Celestial City in his slow and methodical pace (Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress). He spends his days trying to stay on the road despite distractions and temptations. But remember this, brethren: when he strays it is God that brings him back to the narrow road. Today is the best day to begin anew in staying close to the path that God has set before you. Make the most of the time you have left, before those ruts become permanent.