Tomorrow, at 2 AM on November 2nd in the U.S., the time will recede by an hour, making 2 AM become 1 AM. This is due to a long-standing custom introduced for the benefit of farmers, which allowed them to have more daylight during a certain part of the year, according to my understanding. If you’re an American, you probably view this as your gain of an extra hour on Sunday for whatever you want to do. The fact is, it’s impossible to gain any time. The time you have in your fleeting vapor of a life has been determined by the wise counsel of our Creator. He knows the exact moment when your heart will stop beating and you will face His judgment, or when He sends His Son again to bring the end of all things.

Jesus Himself said, “and who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?” (Mt. 6:27 NASB) The time you have to use this day will be the exact amount that the Lord is pleased to give you. The only thing that changes after Daylight Savings Time is that we all plan our events an hour later, so we’re postponing them for an hour. However, this obviously means that you have an opportunity to do things you otherwise couldn’t before all the events on your schedule.

Most Americans aspire to use the extra hour for sleeping, which makes sense, because the average American doesn’t get enough quality sleep. But before you just instinctively decide that you’ll sleep for one more hour, please consider the multitude of ways you could spend that time doing other things of value. Also, please consider the way you currently spend your time, and whether you could use an extra hour before your events to start cultivating better uses of your time.

If you’re a procrastinator, and have several unfulfilled obligations, the extra hour would well be used for working on one of the things that you’ve been putting off. Assuming you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus, how well do you prepare to meet your weekly Christian fellowship? Do you practice the instruction given to the Hebrews in Hebrews 10:24, to “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (NASB95)? Do you give due consideration to the condition of your brethren in the fellowship, and make plans for how you can best encourage, counsel, warn, and/or serve them? Do you make sure to get to the meeting place well before the activities start, so you can greet your brethren, and find out how best to participate in the ministries?

What are other possible excellent uses of an hour that’s otherwise unfilled? How much time and effort have you been giving to planned, concentrated, and prolonged prayer? Wouldn’t it be helpful to spend another 15 minutes, half an hour, or a full hour praising, petitioning, and pleading with God? This would be an excellent use of time.

How about your reading and pondering of the Scriptures? Do you spend enough time every day seeking the truth and wisdom you need for your sins, temptations, ignorance, suffering, and perplexities, from the Bible? Would it help you to spend an added half hour considering God’s Word, so you can begin to cultivate a more devoted discipline of meditation on it? This would be a wonderful use of your time.

How much time do you give to exercising your body? Have you been negligent in using your body to do hard things, so that it maintains and increases its strength and vigor? If you could use fifteen minutes to an hour walking, running, lifting weights, or biking, then determine if that’s the best use and do it. As believers, we’re not only take care of our minds and hearts, but also our bodies. And you will find after straining your body that your mind will work quicker and more efficiently than before. The better health your body is in, the better functioning your mind will be.

What if you know of a friend in need of some kind of help right now, and they’re still struggling? Would it not be a good use of your time to go out of your way to help them with the “extra” time you’ll have?

How engaged are you in sharing the gospel? If you aren’t talking about the truths of the gospel on a regular basis, or at least sharing gospel tracts with people, you might do well to consider using your extra hour to go to a public place to share the gospel. Deliberately approaching people to share the gospel aids in your desire to see people saved, and improves your skill at witnessing.

I’ll stop with my suggestions here, but ask you to do a thorough and honest evaluation of the way you spend your 14 hours of wakefulness every day, especially on Sunday. What habits could you spend more time cultivating this November, and start doing so today? I believe that most of us should spend more time praying and enjoying our Bibles, so consider if you could add a portion of an hour to concentrated prayer for your soul, the souls of your family members, the souls of your local fellowship, and those of the unbelievers you interact with. And also think spending more time pondering an extended portion of Scripture, or adding more Scripture to your daily reading. Whatever you do, please don’t let your added effort be done this one day, and then go back to normal. Let this November be the beginning of a daily routine in which you spend more time on the things that are most helpful, fruitful, and productive! Let us use this single opportunity to,

“. . . be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” – Eph. 5:15-16 (NASB95)