Life By The Hour

Book Review.

Schroeder, Tim. Iife By The Hour. Knowing when you have had enough- for now. Trafford Publishing. 2009

Comment. Henry.
Tim is a local pastor who has been an impressive model to me regarding his involvement in the community. He writes out of these experiences and a strong commitment to scripture. I appreciated his response when I asked him whom he was targeting with this book; “Your neighbor”. His thesis of living (the Christian) life one hour at a time is a very helpful, fundamentally sound concept.

It is one thing to survive in our spiritual life but it is quite another thing to flourish. Flourishing involves a strategy of living life one hour at a time. Making right decisions (hourly) develops a foundation for making right decisions in the big decisions of life.

We should not accept meaninglessness in our schedule of life. We need continuous personal inspiration. Clear life values are developed and maintained hour by hour, e.g. practicing gratitude. Making sure our soul is alive and well-nourished and our bodies are healthy is our responsibility.

Lofty goals are reached with honest, genuine beginnings. Distractions and hurry, two enemies in our lives, are things that are totally within our control. The solution to stress and fatigue is not inactivity but some wholesome form of re-creation. “Resist predictability.” (102)

We are commanded to forgive. Forgiving is both an event and a process. Worry and anxiety will become fatal if left unchecked and/or unmanaged. The peace of God is a gift that we need to appropriate by faith. At all times recognize the lies in a temptation. The life of a Christ-follower requires total commitment and the giving of your best (one hour at a time). Prayer is fundamental in order to move from surviving to flourishing.

The challenge of not being mastered by money is best accomplished hour by hour. “Those things with the greatest capacity to bring the greatest pleasure also have the capacity to bring the greatest pain.” (190) e.g. our sex life.