THE SHERPERD

The Lord is my sherperd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.
He leads me in the path of righteousness. For His name's sake, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.
For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me
Thou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
Thou annoited my head with oil, my cup runs over
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever.

This is the prayer of a true believer, to let the Lord be his sherperd. The contoller of his humane affairs, as well as the affairs of the spirit. It is when you give room for Christ to live in you and direct your life that your deeds will proclaim His goodness unto nations. Know that Christ can only come into your life through your devotion to the WORD. Note also that, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.Thus, Christ is the word. Allow Him into your life this moment and He shall surely be your sherperd. He will lead and guide you into the evergreen lands. Your darkness will be turned to light, because in Him is no darkness.He will as well lead you into places you've never dreamt of going and will make your path clear, even as he makes your face shine with favour.

TIME! HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH IT?

Time! Time!! TIme!!!

What do you know about time? The student talks about time, the secretary, same, the trader recognizes time, the doctor, even the armed robber evaluates time. Do we actually consider this resource most efficient?

Time is said to be an emergent concept. What we perceive to be time is mostly an illusion. Our memory creates the illusion of the past. Conscious perception of event gives the feeling of present. Future is a mental construct patterned on memory experience of the past. It is obvious to say that, the concept of time emerges as our minds try to make sense of the world around us which is filled with continuous change.

How then can this concept of time be applicable effectively to our human endeavors? It takes a management of it.

Time management may be described as a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This management is required of any individual who really sujects to succeed in life. The management of time can be undertaken on a personal or group grounds. However, the process is not a mouth wash issue but entails a variety of activities including planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organising, scheduling and prioritizing.

A major obstacle to personal time management is the psychological aspect of our time management. Why? Because, it stands as the major reason why we procrastinate our time. Meanwhile, we can avoid this obstacle with the practice of effective time management by employing the necessary skills and techniques. To effectively manage your time, strive to:

1. Have very clear goals

2. Set deadlines and meet them. This will help you avoid unnecessary stress and tension.

3. Get your priorities right. Know which need/want is of most importance to you, given your allocated time frame of action and deal with that first, then the next.

4. Plan and follow a programme. Make sure you design a master plan for any action you deem to undertake. This serves as a programme for that particular task which needs to be followed as designed. However, the plan should be one which will result success and not a mere jung.

5. Always be punctual.

6. Use efficient ways. That is, always try to use the right channel for any move you make, or transaction you engage in.

7. Be alert, be mindful. Be alert to take the necessary step when the traffic light clicks "go" and don't slag, because it will in no time click "stop".

8. Practise strong Discipline. No man can manage a valuable resource without Discipline. It pays to discipline yourself to the 'dos' and 'don'ts' of time to give it a better management that will provide you an exquisite success.

9. Do not procrastinate. Note, "Procrastination is a thief of Time".

10. Do not waste time. It is best to monitor the time you waste on daydreaming and fantasizing; gossiping and indulging in empty talk; oversleeping and dreaming; overwatching TV, video, playing computer games, chit-chatting on the internet; and idling while waiting, quequeing up, traveling and so on.

11. Concentrate on whatever you do.

12. Organise your work.

13. Delegate and share the work.

14. Take good care of your Health.

15. Cultivate good attitudes and habits towards everything you do.

It is sincerely true that, most of these skills are not light to employ, but it will take determination and self control as well as divine intervention through prayer to practise them. But we should know that, "Time is man's most precious asset. All men neglect it; all regret the loss of it; nothing can be done without it"as according to Volatire.

Benjamin Disraeli, also commented that, "He who gains time, gains everything". Likewise Peter Drucker said, "Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, noting else can be managed".

And I conclude in agreement with LaBruyere that, those who make the worst use of their time most, complain of its shortness.

We ought to take note of what we use our time for, and how we use our time. Since a second lost can never be recovered as time is concerned.