Benjamin Franklin said that “If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality.”  Michelangelo agreed: “There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.” 

The difficulty is, how do we know if we’re wasting time?  The world will tell you to always do something “productive” with your time.  It celebrates famous and influential people who are known for sleeping just 4 hours a night and working over 100 hours each week.

But Ecclesiastes reminds us that wasting time is not a matter of productivity—it is, rather, a matter of suitability:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” the writer says, including:

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Dancing is a waste of time, only if the occasion calls for mourning; planting seeds is a waste of time, only if the season calls for harvesting.  Wasting time is not a matter of failing to fill the hours of your day with activity; it is a matter of failing to form your day with wisdom.  For time spent wisely is never wasted.

Have a wonderful day.