Wasting time seems one of the greatest accomplishments of modern day.
Whether scrolling endlessly through social media posts, watching TV for hours on end, or playing the latest game, the activities we can participate in to waste time are abundantly available. While there is a healthy level of relaxation, it seems we are always waiting for someone or something and so must pass the time. Our attitude betrays a flawed perception of time in excess.
Peter, however, asks us to reconsider this perceived bounty of time and instead approach life with an aggressive urgency:
“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.”
For Peter, there are no wasted moments; all time is precious and critical to our development. He goes as far as to list the traits we should be developing in this allotted time: character, understanding, discipline, patience, wonder, friendliness, and love. (All traits we can assuredly improve on.) And we are left with an end state of progress and reward.
So where do we start with all this? As Peter states, it all starts with 'basic faith.' On some level you have to buy into this lifestyle being a better alternative. Absent faith in the outcome, any contributions will be half-hearted at best.
Now, committed to the goal, we begin the process of re-prioritizing our objectives. We all possess idiosyncrasies, but I submit that for sustained change, incremental moves likely pose your best chance for success. I encourage you this week to curtail one of your favorite time-fillers 5 minutes early and develop yourself. Once we overcome this initial moment of inertia, we witness our gains compound and see "...each dimension fitting into and developing the others."
-the contrary disciple