The righteous man in every generation has striven to make the best use of his time. Adam and his wife lived in a safe place in the Garden of Eden. In this realm of perfect safety from any physical threat they had the job of “dressing and keeping the garden” (Genesis 2:15). Genesis two is a fuller explanation of how things were done in chapter one. This command was given to Adam before Eve was created. Upon her creation her work would have been the same as Adam’s. What all was involved in dressing and keeping the garden, we are not told. What it does show is activity.
Many years later Noah is described as a righteous man who found favor with the Lord (Genesis 6:8). What kind of man did God select for the awesome task to building an ark? Certainly the quality of righteousness was necessary. What if Noah was not a man accustomed to working? Give him a task to build a boat roughly 450 feet long? God selected a righteous man to build the ark for purposes of salvation (Hebrews 11:7). God’s message was that in 120 years time would run out for all humanity. Noah had to make the best use of the time he had to do two things. One was build an ark and two was to save his family. The fact that he was a preacher of righteous would also say, he tried to save his neighbors as well.
Under the leadership of Nehemiah on September the 25th, the walls of Jerusalem were finished in fifty-two days (Nehemiah6:15). What is the foundation of such success? Without God nothing of spiritual value will ever be accomplished (John 15:5). The righteous man is well acquainted with the truth that with God we are strengthened to do all things (Philippians 4:13). Upon the foundation of God the reason for success was the people had a mind to work (Nehemiah 4:6). To have accomplished this task of finishing the wall in fifty-two days required them to make the best use of the time they had. Nehemiah adds that every one worked with the tools they had and held a sword in their other hand (Nehemiah 4:17).
Some spend a great deal of time in thinking about what grand scheme God has for their lives. The trouble with looking for such grand schemes is people think like Naaman, wanting to do something great (II Kings 5:11). His servants stilled his rage. How did they do that? They told him if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it (verse 13). Why, then, not do something simple like to wash and be clean? He saw the wisdom of what they were saying, swallowed his pride, and dipped seven times in Jordan. The end result was he was healed of his leprosy.
When individuals spend a good deal of mental energy looking to do something great, they really never find God’s purpose for them in life. How shocking must have been the words of Jesus when he told the people, to do good things but to do it in private (Matthew 6:3). This agrees with the earlier part of the same sermon in which Jesus told them to use their life in such a way that men would see and give glory to God (Matthew5:16). If the reason for doing good is the praise of men, it would be hard to harmonize these two statements from the same sermon.