This 5-day devotional draws directly from Ricky Plummer's sermon “Spiritual Discipline of Or Time” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
Your Time Belongs to Someone
Monday — Understanding the Truth
Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it all went? You were busy — but were you purposeful?
Today's Scripture "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." — Romans 13:11
Reflection There's a quiet assumption most of us carry through life: that we have more time. More time to have that important conversation, to pursue something meaningful, to get serious about faith. We'll get to it — just not today.
But the Apostle Paul writes with urgency. Knowing the time. Not panicking about it, but being awake to it. Time is not a neutral resource we manage however we like. It's a gift — and like any gift, it reflects something about the relationship between the giver and the one who receives it.
Here's the grounding truth: if you belong to God, your time belongs to him too. Not just Sunday mornings. Not just the quiet moments when you feel spiritual. All of it — the commute, the lunch hour, the evening hours, the calendar full of ordinary days.
That's not a burden. It's actually freedom. When your time is surrendered to someone who loves you perfectly and sees the full picture of your life, you stop white-knuckling the calendar and start living with intention and peace.
This week, we're going to explore what it looks like to be a good steward of the time you've been given — not out of guilt, but out of gratitude.
Today's Step Sit quietly for a moment and ask yourself honestly: Does God control my calendar, or do I just fit him in when it's convenient?
A Closing Thought You were given today on purpose. That's reason enough to live it well.
The Honest Struggle With Wasted Hours
Tuesday — When It's Hard
Be honest — how much time did you spend last week on things that truly mattered to you? And how much just... slipped away?
Today's Scripture "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." — James 4:14
Reflection We all know, somewhere deep down, that time is short. We've been to funerals. We've watched people we love age. We've had that sudden moment — a health scare, a close call, a milestone birthday — where the brevity of life becomes undeniably real.
And yet, most days, we live like we have unlimited tomorrows.
It's not that we're careless people. It's just that the urgent always seems to crowd out the important. The notifications pull at us. The scroll is always there. The to-do list is real. And before we know it, another day is gone, and we haven't done the things that actually matter to us — or to God.
There's also something subtler going on. Surrendering our time to God sounds good in theory, but in practice it can feel like giving up control. What if his agenda doesn't match mine? What if faithfulness looks boring, or hard, or costly?
That fear is real, and it's worth naming. But here's what's also true: a life spent chasing our own agenda, with no room for God's purposes, is the life that ends in regret. The vapor vanishes. And we can't get those hours back.
The good news is that today is still here. This moment is still yours to offer.
Today's Step Think of one area of your life where time quietly slips away. Just name it — no shame, just honesty.
A Closing Thought Awareness is always the first step toward change, and grace is always waiting on the other side.
Small Shifts That Change Everything
Wednesday — Putting It Into Practice
What if getting your time back didn't require a total life overhaul — just a few honest, intentional adjustments?
Today's Scripture "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." — Ephesians 5:15–16
Reflection "Redeeming the time" is a rich phrase. It means buying it back — recovering something valuable that was slipping away. Paul isn't writing to people who had too much free time. He's writing to ordinary people in a busy, distracted world, urging them to be intentional.
So what does that actually look like on a Tuesday afternoon or a Saturday morning?
Start here: give God your first. Before the phone, before the news, before the inbox — offer the first few minutes of your day to him. It doesn't have to be long. It just has to be first. That small act reorients everything that follows.
Next, try dividing your day into what actually matters. Work. Family. Rest. Time with God. Ministry to others. These aren't competing priorities — they're the building blocks of a full life. When you name them, you can protect them.
Set honest limits on the things that drain your hours without filling your soul. That might be endless scrolling, or a hobby that's crept from enjoyment into escape. A boundary isn't a punishment; it's a form of care for yourself.
Finally, end each day with a brief review. Not to condemn yourself for what you missed, but to notice, adjust, and begin again tomorrow with grace.
Today's Step Choose one practical shift from today's reflection and try it tomorrow morning. Just one — small and doable.
A Closing Thought Wisdom isn't about having a perfect schedule; it's about making one more intentional choice today than you made yesterday.
The Life That Woke Up in Time
Thursday — What This Looks Like in Real Life
Sometimes the most powerful thing isn't an argument — it's a picture of what change actually looks like in someone's ordinary life.
Today's Scripture "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." — John 9:4
Reflection Imagine a man in his late forties — call him David. He's a good man. Hardworking. He loves his family. He shows up to church most Sundays. But somewhere along the way, his days filled up with noise. Long hours at work, evenings on the couch, weekends swallowed by errands and screens. Not bad things, exactly. Just... full. Always full.
Then his father gets a serious diagnosis. Suddenly, David is sitting in hospital waiting rooms, watching a man he loves face the end of his days. And his father, in a quiet moment, says something David doesn't expect: "I just wish I'd paid more attention to what mattered."
David drives home that night and sits in his driveway for a long time.
He doesn't overhaul his life overnight. But something shifts. He starts waking up fifteen minutes earlier to read scripture before the day takes over. He puts his phone away at dinner. He calls his adult kids more. He volunteers one Saturday a month at a local ministry.
Nothing dramatic. Just a man who woke up to the truth that his time was a gift — and began to treat it like one.
That's what redeeming the time looks like. Not a perfect life. A more awake one.
Today's Step Ask yourself: Is there someone in my life — a parent, a child, a friend — who needs more of my present, unhurried attention?
A Closing Thought You don't have to wait for a crisis to start living like time is precious. It already is.
Take This Into the Weekend
Friday — Carrying It Forward
The week is almost over. Before the weekend pulls you in every direction, take a breath and carry something true with you.
Today's Scripture "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." — Proverbs 16:3
Reflection All week, we've been sitting with one honest question: Am I living like my time belongs to God?
Not perfectly. Not with a color-coded calendar and zero wasted hours. Just — intentionally. Awake. Surrendered.
Here's what's worth carrying into the weekend: stewardship of time isn't about squeezing more productivity out of every hour. It's about alignment. It's asking, Does the way I spend my days reflect what I actually believe about God, about people, about eternity?
The weekend has a way of revealing the answer. It's when the structure falls away and we find out what we actually reach for. Rest is good — God designed it, and it matters. But there's a difference between rest that restores and drift that just numbs.
So as you head into Saturday and Sunday, try this: offer your days to God before they begin. Not a long prayer, just a simple one. Lord, these hours are yours. Show me how to use them well. Then pay attention to what he brings across your path — a conversation, a need, a moment to be present with someone you love.
You don't have to get it perfect. You just have to stay awake.
Today's Step Before the weekend begins, take sixty seconds to pray over your next two days. Offer them to God and ask him to direct your steps.
A Closing Thought Every day is a gift you didn't earn — and every new morning is another chance to live like you know it.