On Saturday I happened to meet a regular reader who said she hadn’t receive my usual Monday email last week. “I thought you might have taken a week off,” she said. “You’re entitled to that.”

I appreciate her comment, but no, I didn’t take a week off, and everything looks normal on my end with all of the subscriber emails going out as usual. But if you missed last Monday’s email, please check your spam folder, and you can also read that article here: How to Grow Your God-Given Dream: Listening for God.

This week, while I’m not exactly taking it off, I do feel as if I’m cheating just a bit–instead of writing an original article, I decided instead to highlight this piece I wrote for The Christian Century on Ephesians 5:15-20.

There’s no end of advice on making the most of your time:

• Have a clear goal.
• Make a plan.
• Don’t start your day with email.
• Eat right and exercise.
• Spend time on your priorities.
• Learn to say no and mean it.
• Get a good night’s sleep.
• Let go of any worries that won’t matter in five years anyway.
• Use things and love people, not the other way around.

I’ve tried all of these things and more, and even though I can’t do any of them as well or as consistently as I would like, working at such practices has made me more productive and happier as a pastor, writer, blogger, and household diva. I get a lot done in a day, and I love the people I do it with.

But is this what it means to make the most of my time? It sounds good as far as it goes, yet when Martin Luther wrote,

I have so much to do
that I shall spend
the first three hours
in prayer,

I don’t imagine that he meant to squeeze another three hours of work and relationships into the hours that remained. Instead, prayer alone with God was an essential part of his day.

For more on prayer and making the most of your time,
read the rest of this article at The Christian Century.