October 17, 2018
I don’t know whether it’s me, but I find these eight words from an unknown source worth a page of wisdom: A free lunch is found only in mousetraps.
During my lunch hour, I was standing by the food counter in a local cafeteria. I noticed a young father at the counter. He had three small children in tow and was asking them what they wanted to eat. The youngest child, about four or five years old and so short she couldn’t see the food display, asked, “Do we get something free?” “No,” the father said. “I have already paid for it.”
Hope as we may, we cannot get “something for nothing”. People have discovered, even though something appears as “free”, there’s always a cost. There is never something for nothing. To get, we have to give.
Sometimes we give money; often we exchange our talents; occasionally we exchange knowledge. In all cases, we give time to get the “something we want.”
I hear people say, “I would like to have time to do that.” Or, “I wish I had time to get an education or an advanced degree, read a book, travel, exercise, take up a hobby, etc.” Each time I hear that yearning, I am reminded we all have the same amount of time—60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day.
A person’s race, education, age, nationality, or economic position can’t extend, bend, buy, barter, or create time. Time is time. How we prioritize time is the differentiator. People can make time to do what they want to do. It is not the time but the prioritization that is important. But because time is inelastic, we may not have the time to do all we want to do.
Author and salesman extraordinaire, Harvey Mackay said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”
The use of time is superior to the conservation of time. In fact, someone makes the there is no such activity as conserving time; only utilization of time. People can keep water for later use, but the minute that just went by can’t be captured and saved for future use. Water stored behind a dam is potential power. Minutes are always kinetic power nature; they are powerful at the moment, not at some future time.
A minute of time has neither a future nor a past, only a present. You don’t find minutes, but you can lose them. An old Proverb states, “Lost time is never found again.”
If you plan on being a success, expect to spend time on activities that lead to goal achievement. “It’s not enough to be busy,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “so are the ants.” The question is, what are you busy about?” Maturing Christians find time to read God’s Word, pray, worship, and helps their neighbor.
As there is no free lunch, there is no free time.” Invest your time wisely. People can’t buy, borrow, spend or steal time. You can only barter time. Make sure in the exchange you get a good deal.