Benjamin Franklin was quite the character in Colonial America. He is credited with numerous accomplishments. Not only was he a significant contributor to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, but he was also the first Postmaster General, ran extensive experiments with electricity that featured the infamous kite and key resulting in the creation of the lightning rod, made the Franklin Stove, co-founded the Union Fire Company, founded the first public library, and had a hand in establishing the University of Pennsylvania. Lesser known accomplishments are the creation of a new musical instrument and drawing the first political cartoon. He is even credited with creating the bifocal.
This was a busy man! How could he accomplish so many things? A copy of his daily to-do list from 1726 explains it all.
We all have the same amount of time every day. 24 hours. 1,440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. No more. No less. What we choose to do with that time makes all the difference.
Franklin’s morning began at 5 a.m. with an introspect question: “What good shall I do this day?” He would “Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness; contrive day’s business and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study; and breakfast.” By 8 a.m., he was ready for work. From 12-2 p.m., Franklin would “Read or overlook my accounts, and dine.” More work took place from 2-6 p.m. From 6-10 p.m., Franklin filled his night with “Put things in their places, supper, music, or diversion, or conversation; examination of the day.” The day would end with this question: “What good have I done today?” Sleep was from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. at which time he would arise and start it all over again.1
Failure to plan is a plan to fail. Franklin was definitely not a failure.
For some, the thought of a schedule sends you into a panic while others find it comforting. Consider what the Scriptures say about this. Proverbs 16:3, 9 says, “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established … (9) A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” The Scripture seems to make it abundantly clear that planning is a normal thing to do. However, the caveat to planning is that we must plan according to what the Lord wants and be willing at any moment to change our plans, realizing that His plans have superseded ours.
James 4:13-15 is often used as a verse to justify living without a plan and just flying by the seat of our pants. “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” The verses do NOT teach against planning. Instead, they teach about surrendering those plans to the Lord’s will.
We must plan. If we don’t, we will find that we waste exorbitant amounts of time, time that we cannot regain.
So, what’s your plan for today?
1https://www.pastchronicles.com/rare-historical-photos-capturing-a-unique-moment-in-time/
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
