A staff member brought the entire staff to a hawker centre to introduce us to some “very delicious food”. So, we went. Much to my (me only) horror, the queue was very long and the wait time was estimated to be more than an hour. I told the rest that they can choose to eat that but I will be eating something else. Waiting for an hour or more for food was not exactly my cup of tea.

In our whole life, we spent a lot of time waiting. Wait to be born, to grow up, to go to school, to work, to get married, to have a family, to grow old and then to die. All these waiting is time wasted. They can be spent in more useful endeavours.

My way of evaluating the use of my time is to assign a cost to my time. Then I decide if the event, whatever it is, is worth my time. Waiting in line for food is not exactly my idea of worth. As my life on this earth gets shorter, the cost of my time is more expensive. To use such expensive time, the work must be worth it. Wasting precious life on frivolous trivialise matters is really a bad investment.

What are the things that worth your time? It depends on you. To some, an extra hour lying down is worth everything, to others it may be a waste of time. The context will be very different. So, you will have to decide for yourself, “how much does your hour cost?”

Spend time with family and friends to build relationship. These are good investment of time. Even if the conversations were trivial, they are worth it. Good relationships are built from time spent together. Quantity time beats quality time all the time.

Whatever the context is, spending time with God is the best investment you can make. The time would be well spent. You may complain about the songs, the sermon or even the way the communion was conducted, but the time you put into the work of God is never wasted. It matters for eternity. So, spend your time well.

God bless,
In Christ’s service,

Barry Leong

有一位同工带着整组的同工到小贩中心向我们介绍一些“非常好吃的美食”。于是，我们就去了。让我（唯有我）吓坏的是，队伍很长而且等待的时间恐怕要超过一个小时。我告诉其他的同工，他们可以选择那摊，但是我会去吃别的食物。要为食物等待一个小时或以上，确实非我所为。

在我们的一生中，我们用了很多时间在等待。等待出生、等待成长、等待上学、等待工作、等待结婚、等待成家、等待变老，然后等待死亡。这些等待都是在消耗时间，它们其实可以被使用在更有用的努力上。

我评估自己对时间的使用是为我的时间定下一个价值。然后我再决定这项活动，无论是什么，是否值得我的时间。为食物列队等待就不是我认为值得作的。因为我在世上的生命越来越短，我的时间价值愈发珍贵。要使用这么珍贵的时间，所作的就必须值得。把宝贵的生命浪费在虚无琐碎的事上实在是很糟糕的投资。

有什么事物是值得你的时间的？这在乎你。对一些人来说，用额外的一个小时躺下就是一切，对其他的人而言却是浪费时间。其中的背景将是非常不同的。所以，你必须自行定夺，“你的时间有多少价值？”

使用时间与家人和朋友一起建立关系。这是好的时间投资。即使对话的内容是琐碎的，它们仍是有价值的。良好的关系是在共享时间中被建立起来的。一直以来，多量的时间胜于质量的时间。

无论是什么样的背景，与上帝共享时间是你可以作的最好投资。时间必能被善用。你可能会对诗歌、讲道或甚至施行圣餐的方式不满，但是投入上帝工作中的时间是永远不会浪费的。它关乎永恒，所以，要善用你的时间。

上帝赐福，
在基督里同工的，

Barry Leong