The effective leader sets priorities and lives by those priorities. Read Mark 1:32-38.

Jesus was having tremendous ministry in the city of Capernaum and news about Him spread quickly throughout the whole region of Galilee. Jesus’ schedule was full from first light to late into the evening, yet Mark tells us that Jesus got up early in the morning and went to a solitary place to pray. Jesus set priorities which included stepping back from His busy schedule to seek the day’s direction from God. Jesus used the solitude of His prayer time to regain perspective and keep His focus on the big picture of His mission on earth.

Leaders experience long term benefits when they get their priorities right. Read Isaiah 40:6-8.

A leader’s life can get complicated and setting priorities can become confusing. Leaders need to decide what matters most or they become victims of the loudest voice or the latest demand. When some alluring “prize” seems to be within a leader’s reach, it is easy to cash in everything and go for it. Some leaders mortgage their whole life for the next promotion, the next goal, or the next award. Isaiah’s words in verses six through eight are a powerful reminder of what lasts and what doesn’t.

Leaders are locked into time and space and can’t fully appreciate when time won’t be all consuming and all important. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-11.

Years ago Bob Dylan popularized a song from Ecclesiastes 3 stressing the preciousness of time as a resource. Leaders will all have to come to grips with the truth that they simply won’t have enough time on this planet to accomplish all of what they are capable of doing or that they have a desire to do. The opportunities and circumstances on earth can never satisfy our deepest longings because God “set eternity in (our) hearts” (v. 11).

Wise leaders understand the seasons each leader will go through in their lifetime. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Solomon gained a magnificent understanding concerning the seasons of his life and it helped him gain an understanding of God’s sovereignty. As much as a leader is given charge over the moments of life and the management of our daily schedules, God controls the seasons of a leader’s life. God established those sweeping elements of timing such as birth, aging, death and all the seasons in between.

Leaders who manage their time can do more with less. Read Psalm 90:12.

Moses had seen a generation squander 40 years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt and before entering the Promise Land. He knew that if leaders could only gain a keen sense of the passage of time, and if they would work for something significant, they could die with a great sense of satisfaction. Unless leaders understand the brevity and place proper value on the time they have, they will never be known as effective in their leadership.