Date: June 23, 2021 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 6
“Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.” But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him.” (2Sam 20:4-5NIV)
One of the things everyone who wants to continually increase in relevance in their job must learn is how to work with time or deliver on time. Every task has the right amount of time to be invested in it. And it is important that we know this and function accordingly. Even the devil, according to the bible, knows that he does not have all the time in the world to mislead humanity and bring them to ruins. So, he is not ready to lose time at all. Instead, he and his demons are daily working hard and fast to destroy sinners and to also lure God’s people into error through immorality, greed, envy, bitterness and so forth. (Cf. Rev 12:12)
Therefore, if you are given any task, whether by your employer or by a client, don’t handle it as though you had all the time in the world to do it or as though it were the only task for you in life. Instead, first find out or determine the required amount of time to invest in it. Then proceed to handle it with the aim of finishing on time or even earlier. That way, you can always make yourself ready to take on something else and increase in usefulness. Also, that way, you can avoid losing your place of relevance in your job or trade to others, who perhaps are willing to do anything to have it.
In our opening text, for example, we are told of how Amasa, the general of Israel’s army, did not finish the task given to him by King David on time. What was this task? It was to muster the army of Judah together to snuff out a growing rebellion before it got out of hand. But this man failed to deliver on time. And why did it take him so long to get this task done? We are not told.
Mind you, gathering the army was not even the main job at hand. The main job was to quell a rebellion. And if it was going to take him ages to gather the men, when exactly would the real thing be done? It is clear, then, that Amasa did not work with an understanding of the seriousness and urgency of the matter at hand. Therefore, he ended up losing the job to another person, Abishai, who knew what it takes to deliver on time. Also, by failing to deliver on time, he gave Joab, another general, who desperately wanted his office as the commander of the army, a reason and an opportunity to murder him in cold blood and take his place. (Cf. 2Sam 20)
In like manner, if you too will not learn to finish every task that is given to you on time, it won’t be long before you lose your relevance or place. Understand that your employers or clients won’t forever endure your slothfulness or excuses for not getting their jobs ready on time, regardless of how good you are at what you do. At some point, they will do whatever they can to find a replacement for you, instead of allowing you to ruin their work.
Besides, there may just be around you individuals who are waiting for you to slip up a little, so that they may use the occasion to get rid of you and take your place. And if you allow slothfulness or distraction to keep putting you behind schedule in handling your job, you may someday become their victim. So, wake up and be diligent.
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