How we use our time determines how we use our lives. Time is a resource we can never replenish. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. We have either used it productively or squandered it.
With that in mind, note what Gerald Flurry recently said: “I think the main way Satan is attacking us is trying to get us to waste our time.”
“That is an insight worth meditating on!” Joel Hilliker wrote about that statement. “Yes, we can be weak and distractable—but many time wasters are a direct satanic attack! How much can the devil impede God’s Work just by wasting our time? This is a battle with Satan in which we must take the victory!” (Royal Vision, January-February 2025).
How can we defend against this satanic push for wasting time? In the countdown to the end of this Work, we need to be more aware of our usage of time than ever before (Matthew 24:33; Romans 13:11-12).
Satan Is Aware of Time
Satan has been attacking God’s people this way for a long time. A 1960s Church administration report stated, “The greatest single problem in the Church … as evidenced by the visiting reports and the reasons for which members are disfellowshiped, is lethargy, clarified further as a ho-hum, what’s-the-use, I-quit, let’s-not-get-excited-about-it, I-can’t, it’s-not-important-anyway attitude” (emphasis added throughout).
Are you indifferent? Do you say or feel, What’s the use? Or do you fill your mind and life with the things of God? Are you excited about what He is doing, truly on fire for Him and His Work?
Time-wasting stunts our spiritual growth. Herbert W. Armstrong said he observed that the Church members who grew the most spiritually were those who truly had their hearts in God’s Work.
Ephesians 6:10-13 describe our battle against Satan as one we must spiritually arm ourselves for. Satan is shrewd and wily. He has ways to get us to let down when we don’t even realize we are.
Revelation 12:12 tells us that Satan is full of “great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” “These are dangerous and urgent times,” Mr. Flurry writes. “Do we realize what a target of Satan’s rage we really are? … We must be aware of time—the way Satan is” (Who Is ‘That Prophet’?). Are we?
Frittering away our time, failing to see how precious our time is, is really a failure to put on our spiritual armor. And without that, we cannot stand against the devil.
Today’s society offers more distractions than ever. Perhaps one of the greatest curses of the past two decades has been the introduction of smart devices and social media. The “always-on” mindset has rewired people’s brains. Statista reports that the average person spent 143 minutes on social media every day last year. That is time lost, time that can never be redeemed.
Technology serves up other time wasters like casual shopping, gaming and incessant online interruptions. We can also waste time through lack of organization and planning, unclear goals, procrastination and not knowing when to say “No.” Procrastination lowers productivity levels and puts goals out of reach. Interruptions cause the average worker to switch tasks every 11 minutes of their workday. And getting our minds back on track post-disruption takes an average of 25 minutes!
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Redeeming the time means buying it up, ransoming it, rescuing it from loss. Are you buying up each moment of every day to use it gainfully? Are you diligently occupied? Are you making the most of every opportunity to grow in Christian character?
Here are seven steps you can take to shore up your defenses against wasting time.
1. Begin with why
Knowing why you do something supplies more motivation than merely focusing on what to do or how to do it.
The quintessential question to time management is why we exist in the first place. Is there a purpose to human life? Absolutely yes! God created humans to be born into the Kingdom of God! God created you, not with animal instinct, but with a mind—a human spirit that can combine with His Holy Spirit so God can reproduce Himself. Being created in His image and likeness, we ought to exhibit and grow in the nature, mind and character of God in our life.
To achieve that purpose, we must first repent (Acts 2:38). Repentance requires action! (Isaiah 1:16-17). We must cease from sin and go on to live righteously (Ephesians 4:22-32). We have to turn away from Satan and fill the void by turning to God. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
God entreats His people to come to Him to learn how to live (Jeremiah 10:23). Like a father desiring to teach his children, God wants us to go to Him and pay attention to what He shows us about life—and then do it! Just having the knowledge is of no value.
The perfect example of how to draw close to God is Jesus Christ. He is also the Captain, or Pioneer, of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). Christ has gone ahead before us into matchless glory. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Mr. Armstrong explained, “Jesus is the Author of our salvation—He wrote that salvation by His experience, and that was the first writing of it—He was the first human ever to achieve it—to be perfected, finished as a perfect character!” (Why Were You Born?).
What a magnificent purpose! To fulfill it, and to qualify for that reward, we mustuse our time wisely. “Do you see now what God is creating in you and me? He is creating something higher than angels or archangels,” Mr. Armstrong continued. “He is creating the supreme masterpiece of all God’s creation—holy, perfect spiritual characters.”
Do you strive to use your time wisely? As you experience trial and difficulty, always see what God is doing and why. God is hard at work on your spiritual creation, perfecting you into a supreme masterpiece! As anyone who has ever worked on a project knows, if the material doesn’t cooperate, it can delay the whole project. We ought to be hastening the return of Jesus Christ, not delaying it. So we must not fritter away time, giving in to Satan’s attempts to thwart God’s plan.
Through His death and resurrection, Christ opened the way for us to attain eternal life! How can we squander time when we understand that?
2. Set attainable goals
With a clear picture of why we need to buy back time, we can begin to focus on the what and how by mentally visualizing the goal and the end result.
Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” To spend your time wisely, God must come first in your life! Give God your best time, then He will be involved in how the rest of your time is spent as the latter part of this verse brings out.
Make sure whatever goals you set advance that overarching goal. For example, you might set a goal to study the Bible for 30 minutes a day. That effort will be far more profitable if you think of the Bible as the mind of God in print. To become more like God, we should want to know every detail of what God’s mind is like and emulate that. Studying the Bible for 30 minutes a day helps us get to know that mind better! Thus, the overarching goal of becoming like God provides impetus to that daily study and to prioritizing that task over others.
When the overarching goal is right, you can break it down into attainable specifics. For example, at age 21, Benjamin Franklin set a goal to become a more virtuous man. He identified 13 specific virtues he wanted to develop: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility. Franklin understood that to attain these, he needed to break them down in attainable, practical and specific actions. So that is what he did. For example, under “industry” he wrote, “Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.” He understood that being productive requires eliminating unnecessary activities and saying no to distractions.
Franklin set lofty goals, and then broke them down into specific instructions for himself to make it attainable. This is essential for the next few steps.
3. Prioritize what you ought to do
Mr. Armstrong would ask himself 10 questions daily. The fifth was: Have I exercised self-discipline, denying impulse, doing what God’s Word shows I ought to do instead of what I wanted to do?
God’s law functions as a spiritual mirror. If you look at it but make no changes in your life, you are self-deceived (James 1:22-24). When we squander our time, we feel less impelled to act, to achieve, to grow. We focus on what we’d like to do rather than what we ought to.
Ezekiel 33 prophesies of a time when the modern nations of Israel are collapsing and people like to hear the truth of God from God’s end-time apostle and prophet—but they take no action. Hearing but not doing is all too common.
Many who consider themselves Christian are blind to the need for self-discipline. It is far easier to flow with the stream. Revelation 3:14-22 show that even most of God’s own people in this Church era have gotten distracted, lost spiritual focus, become materialistic, and slid back spiritually! Christ calls for zealous repentance! (verse 19). We must hear the Spirit and avoid being swept up by the flow of society and its calls to squander precious time!
Small distractions can add up to many lost hours. Identify what is stealing your time, and cut it out! At least box that activity in by allocating only a limited amount of time to it; then, once that time is up, move on.
One area that may be an unavoidable waste of time can be your commute. Many of us spend untold hours every year driving slowly during rush hour. While driving isn’t the most focused time, it can still be turned into profitable time by the choices we make. For example, consider skipping the music you might listen to in favor of listening to Trumpet Daily or another pcg podcast.
4. Hold yourself accountable
Jesus Christ managed His time perfectly. He made sure He got His communication with God in before interruptions and distractions could affect His concentration (Mark 1:35). He prayed for long stretches in isolation, apart from others, where He wouldn’t be disturbed. His goal was to fulfill the Father’s will, and He spent all His time doing those things that pleased God (John 8:29).
No goal is ever reached unless we measure along the way. Unless attentive to our journey, we will run out of steam, bog down, spin our wheels, make wrong turns. The way to remedy that is to hold yourself accountable.
Remember, God holds us accountable. He measures our actions even in the little things. Christ said, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:10-11). God wants to give you an eternal existence, and He wants to know how well you will use that life. So He measures us to see how we appropriate our time today. How we use—or misuse—our time will determine what God can entrust us with in His Kingdom.
Once baptized, your life no longer belongs to you. You must be willing to give your life for Christ’s sake, since you are “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Never slip into the attitude of doing whatever you want. Instead, be oriented toward God (Romans 14:8). Dedicate your entire being to serving God.
“[W]e shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. … So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (verses 10, 12). Each of us will give God account for how we used the physical existence God gave us.
5. Know you cannot do it yourself
Jesus Christ said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). If He couldn’t do anything of Himself, where does that leave us?
“We must see as Christ did, that God does it all spiritually, and we must use His Spirit to accomplish anything,” Mr. Flurry said in a recent sermon. “We must know what we can and cannot do; and spiritually, we can of ourselves do nothing!”
How did Christ get things done? By submitting perfectly to the Father! We have to use God’s Holy Spirit to follow in His example, even in our time management.
The Apostle Paul acknowledged he could “do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). So can we. Christ abides in us by His Holy Spirit (1 John 3:24). We are the sons of God if we are led by that Spirit (Romans 8:14). So we need the Holy Spirit, and we need to be led by it.
But notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote: “God’s Spirit will not enter and join with the human spirit until the human spirit has been conquered by God—has surrendered unconditionally to God! That’s why many … think they are ‘converted’ who never have been—who never have been conquered into surrender and submission to God. The natural carnal mind can comprehend, grasp, understand a certain measure of biblical truth and doctrine. Some, in their vain self-righteousness, are so good that they do accept what truth a natural mind can grasp” (Plain Truth, May 1982). If we accept the truth but are not unconditionally surrendered to God, we are left without power to really change—and we are wasting precious time.
In addition, God gives the ministry in His true Church to help true Christians be perfected, to help us confront issues that hold us back from growing up in Christ (Ephesians 4:8-15). To that end, we need to employ the ministry in our battle against Satan.
“God gives us His government for a foundational purpose,” Mr. Flurry writes. “We must take advantage of it. It is easy for people to think they can solve their own problems, when they really need help. We all have the tendency to rely too much on ourselves. We must learn to ask for help when we need it. People cannot be in God’s Church and remain aloof from His ministry” (The Last Hour).
Seeking counsel is not a natural thing to do—it requires a spiritual mindset. Naturally we tend to want to reason our way through our problems. But with Christ’s mind, we will look to God for help through ministerial counsel.
Yet the ministry can only guide your decision-making. You must still make the decision. Still, it is far better to seek the counsel before making the decision instead of seeking ministerial approval for decisions you have already made.
Using our own reasoning only bandages the symptoms without addressing spiritual root causes.
6. Revolve around God’s man and God’s Work
God gives a special blessing to those who put their whole heart into God’s Work, wisely applying their time to worthwhile pursuits and the furthering of God’s Work.
In Revelation 3:8-11 God says, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. … Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Our purpose for living is to qualify for sonship in the Family of God. We qualify by walking through the open door and supporting God’s Work.
A big part of our eternal future will be helping others qualify for their position in God’s Family. But if we are indolent, we hinder them by setting a wrong example.
Christ is coming quickly. True Christians are His affianced Bride and ought to revolve around Him in everything—and not only Him but also the man He has chosen to lead the Work here on Earth.
Jeremiah 31:22 speaks of God creating “a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.” In his booklet on Jeremiah, Mr. Flurry explains that this “new thing” is God’s Church (symbolized by a woman) revolving around a man. “This is one of the most profound concepts in the Bible. It is a very strong statement about God’s government,” he writes. Further down: “God always builds His Work around a man. If you don’t accept this profound concept, then you must reject the end-time Elijah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). God’s whole end-time Work revolves around him! … The whole Church got behind him to do God’s Work.”
This is the way God has always done His Work, but it is called a “new thing” in this end-time prophecy, Mr. Flurry explains, because “[a]nciently God established a letter-of-the-law government. Moses enforced it on the people of Israel whether they liked it or not. Today we have God’s Holy Spirit and must choose God’s government. Nobody is forced to submit. … Voluntarily accepting God’s government today qualifies us to be Christ’s Bride ….” What a magnificent picture! By choice, this “woman” is making herself ready for her future revolving around Christ Himself! (Revelation 19:7).
A bride preparing for her wedding day is urgent in her preparations! We must not deceive ourselves that there is ample time to take it easy. True Christians have much to learn to be the proper and right helpmeet for our Husband.
We must be stirred up by God’s Word and our part in His Work! For some, that is a struggle; they continually get pulled away into doing their own thing. Such people often find themselves on the outside of God’s Church looking in.
Christ said His meat was to do His Father’s will and to finish His Work (John 4:32-34). He was enthusiastic about God’s Work and delighted in seeing people’s lives change for the better. He would gladly skip a meal to get the Work done. He had real dedication and was always willing to sacrifice. Are we like that?
7. Parry and riposte
These terms come from the sport of fencing. To parry means to deflect the opponent’s blade and return to a defensive position. A riposte means to immediately seize the moment to go on the counteroffensive. Usually the time that you deflect your opponent’s stroke is the best time to attack.
Where is Satan attacking you through time wastage? Examine your life for any distractions that offers him an open stab at your eternal future. Defend yourself by blocking and deflecting your adversary the moment you see him getting ready to attack.
But to truly prepare as leaders for God, we must not stick to defensive moves only. To riposte means to immediately counterattack! This requires great vigilance and readiness. Fill your life with the godly things that drive Satan and his influences out all the more. Parry and riposte to gain the upper hand and wage offensive warfare against one of Satan’s favorite attacks: time-wastage.
“Napoleon’s aim in war was to destroy the will of his enemy,” Mr. Flurry writes in How to Be an Overcomer. “He criticized those military leaders who wasted time on secondary goals.
“‘Make war offensively,’ Napoleon said. ‘It is the sole means to become a great captain and to fathom the secrets of the art.’ That is a profound statement. If you are not fighting this war offensively, you will not be a great leader. Napoleon advocated using ‘a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive, followed by rapid and audacious attack.’”
When it comes to time-wastage, we must take the all-out victory over Satan. And this is the way to do it.
The Time Is at Hand
What a glorious battle we are waging! What a magnificent future awaits us when we win! “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Exceeding great and precious promises indeed: God is building His own nature in the very elect. We are preparing to be born into God’s own Family—perfected, managing an infinite amount of time!
With that goal in mind, we must protect the time we are given, this short existence that prepares us for our future responsibilities.
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (verse 10). Give diligence—make effort, be prompt, use speed!
Just three weeks before he died, Mr. Armstrong wrote in a co-worker letter, “We are now very near the end of this present age. I will continue to give my all to the Work of God up to the last breath. I hope you will all realize the seriousness of the time in which we live and that nothing is important any longer other than to be close to God and assured of a place in His very soon-coming Kingdom.
“This world is not God’s world, and of that we may all be thankful. It is now in its very last days. This illness has impressed heavily on my mind, more than ever before, the uselessness of this present evil world” (Dec. 23, 1985). Hold fast that perspective. It is truer now than ever.
Read the Bible’s last chapter, Revelation 22—and notice the emphasis on the shortness of time: “things which must shortly be done,” “Behold, I come quickly,” “the time is at hand.” Time is running out for true Christians to prepare for our future responsibility. “And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. … He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (verses 12, 20).