Jesus Knew When To Start And When To Stop

St. John 7:6,8 "Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready....

Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come."

Knowing when to start and when to stop a project or an activity is very important to make the best use of an opportunity. This will mean saving money, reduce waste of time, get the best outcome and glorify God. Time is a precious resource no man should waste. Procrastination is one of time's precious resource that will determine how successful a man will be in life. If a man is given to waste of time, he will wonder one day of why things are not working as to how they should. 

There is time for everything. There is time for work and a time for play. There is time for play and a time to learn. A man's life can be broken down into phases and stages. Once the phase and stage of an activity comes and the man is not ready, he will cry when he looks back after a time and season and see that he should gone further and would have achieved more. This is especially true for a leader. A leader without the knowledge of how best to use time, is no different from the blind man leading the blind. Even worse is the case of a blind man leading those who are not blind. Knowing when to start is a special skill a leader must have. A farmer must know when to start preparing for the planting season, the seeds must be ready, the ground must be cleared before the season. The beginning of the rains marks the start of the tiling of the soil for seed planting. The farmer must plant the seed at the right time and must nurture the same till harvest. If all is done at the right time, the farmer must ensure that the harvest is done at the right time otherwise all the season's effort will have in vain.

A leader is more like a farmer. He ensures that he knows the timing for everything otherwise the people he leads will suffer lost. Jesus is one man who knows how to manage time for himself and for the people he leads. Jesus likened himself to the shepherd and the sheep were the people he led. He as the shepherd, knew when to lead the sheep to the pasture. He knew when they needed water and when they needed the green pasture. He knew when they needed rest and when they needed other forms of care. This is one quality Jesus was excellent about.

"Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready...."

There was the case of an occasion Jesus was invited to. As the shepherd of the sheep, if he goes ahead of the sheep just any time, the wolves will pound on them and disrupt the purpose of the meeting. This is one thing also Jesus was excellent about. He knew a lot about purpose. Not only did he know about the purpose for his life, he knew the purpose for each of his sheep, he knew the purpose for each of the events he goes to. Putting everything together, Jesus will not make a mistake as to purpose and time. These were some of the contributing factors to his success. Time and purpose all contribute to a leader's success. Mastery of time and purpose will guarantee success. How on Earth did Jesus know how to manage time so excellently? It was the product of his daily continuous relationship with God and his knowledge and mastery of his purpose. Also experience of what worked and did not work and why things worked the way they worked and why they did not work all contributed to his mastery of time. 

On this occasion, Jesus allowed them to go ahead of time because all eyes will be on him. This will distract the eyes the people from the purpose of the meeting. Those opposing Jesus will raise dust that will make purpose unachievable. 

St. John 7:1 "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him."

The people that sought to kill Jesus were not mindful of time and purpose. They were ready to desecrate the feast. Killing Jesus would have been a delight for them but Jesus could see the bigger picture and would not desecrate the holy feast. Time was important to take action as far as he was concerned.

Interestingly, Jesus separated his time and that of his disciples'.

"...My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready...."

The greater a man is (or will be) the more he will be watchful of how he manages time. While any time is okay for others, the man that will achieve more, must be watchful of time. Jesus was watchful of how he manages time. People will push a man to move forward anytime but the man who will achieve more, will calculate before he takes the next step forward. No surprise, Jesus was very successful. By separating the disciples' time and that of his own time is an indication of mastery of time. We do not have the same time for doing things.

"...Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come."

It was a religious feast that must be celebrated well without abuse of purpose. While others will say, "I don't care, I do whatever I feel like doing anytime", the man of purpose will say, "I watching out for the right time. I will move when the time is ripe. Meanwhile, your time is anytime, go and start before my time comes". That is a great man for you."

One of the earliest miracles Jesus performed, he was invited for the wedding feast. At a time, the wedding wine was finished, and Mary (the mother of Jesus) was at the same wedding. Knowing the capabilities of Jesus, she told him about the finished wedding wine and the answer he gave her showed that he was conscious of time and timing.

St. John 2:3,4 "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come."

In essence, he was saying that he will not rushing into doing just anything even though he can but rather doing things at the right time is more important. When he did acted at the right time, the outcome was excellent. The commendation was great. This is possible because of time and timing. There are great things a man will do at the wrong time that suppose to bring commendation but because of wrong timing, he receives rebuke and insults.

A leader that will carry the people to 'THE PROMISE LAND' must be in time and on time. He must know about the Promise Land' and know when to move as the cloud moves. Jesus was excellent at time and timing. A careful look at Jesus, one will not miss by saying that Jesus was excellent at time management. He knew when to start and when to stop. At the cross, he said that it was finished, the work of redemption has come to an end. That was the end of a dispensation. He knew the end of journey for him to satisfy destiny. He understood time and timing. It was divine and a skill he never played with. Will you be a great leader? You must master time management for self and for the people you lead. If this is done correctly, you are a success.

Pray:

Father in heaven, reign in my heart until I am in tune with the right timing of things. Time wastage shall not be my lot any more. As you reveal, I will take action. I will succeed by virtue of doing the right things at the right time.

I receive grace and insight from heaven. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!