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Are You a Horse or a Hawk?

Are You A Horse or a Hawk?

Being reactive is often despised. We're told that being proactive is the best course of action. But which is a better model for effective time stewardship? The horse with blinders who plows the ground for hours and hours every day? Or the hawk whose sharp senses are scanning the area?

 

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

 

In our zeal to be good stewards of our time, we can miss the wisdom of the Bible. We end up running headlong down a path that we think is correct, but we just get further away from where we should be.

Such is the case with chronos and kairos. Both are Greek words which mean time, but they imply different things. Chronos refers to minutes and seconds. It refers to time as a measurable resource.

Kairos is the word used for time in Ephesians 5:16, Kairos means an appointed time, an opportune moment, or a due season.

 

A Chronos View

We tend to think of our time in a chronos mindset. We think of having 24 hours in a day. We define our workweeks by the number of hours that we work. We have a list of things to do and only so much time to get everything done. Being conscious of our minutes and seconds is a good thing. We should number our days as the scripture says. Our time on earth is so brief, and we want to be good stewards of every second that we have to glorify God on this earth. But ironically, this chronos mindset can make us miss what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5. Paul instructs us to redeem the kairos -- to pay attention and take advantage of the opportune times and seasons.

 

A Kairos View

We only have such a brief opportunity to shepherd our kids when they're still young children. When a friend is experiencing pain, we have a brief window of time in which to reach out to them.

When friends of ours were going through a rough spot in their marriage, I went to lunch with the husband. Yes, it took up some of my chronos time. But I was able to share the gospel with this unsaved friend of mine, we prayed together, and he expressed an interest in learning more about Christ. It was a kairos opportunity.

 

Changing Our Mindset

This requires us to make a mental shift. Instead of looking at our time as grains of sand slipping through an hourglass, we view our time as opportunities flying by. Instead of viewing our time as seconds ticking by, we realize that not every second holds the same worth.

 

Some moments are more valuable than other moments. The five minutes that I have a chance to share the gospel with an unsaved friend is a more valuable five minutes than when I'm processing my Email. I have to take advantage of my opportunities. We must change our view of what effectiveness really is. Though we want to use our minutes and seconds wisely, biblical effectiveness is not necessarily us ramming as much as we can into 24 hours. It's not us putting our head down and plowing the field with as much vigor as we can muster. Instead the effective steward is a focused watchman whose senses are attuned to the slightest hint of an opportunity. He's a hawk on the lookout. The effective steward not only recognizes these kairos opportunities but has the courage to leap upon them with all his might. And the effective steward has organized his schedule in such a way that leaves him open to seizing these opportunities.

 

Don't let your diligence towards chronos choke out your attention to kairos.

 

Title and contents of this article have been modified. This article is from the following source: http://www.lifeofasteward.com/chronos-kairos/