Do you ever feel like the calendar needs an extra day each week just to get everything accomplished? Me too! But God only gave us seven, so we must learn to adjust our lives to his grand and good design.

Countless gadgets have been designed and apps have been released as tools to facilitate calendaring and time management. Fancy digital calendars hang on walls, dry erase boards are mounted to refrigerators, and the reminder app constantly dings, but the struggle to maintain the calendar does not appear to be going away.

Families are busier now than they have ever been, primarily by choice. Though calendars are already full, more opportunities seeking to claim space in schedules continually bombard families. How can those seeking to keep Christ at the center of their lives achieve success in doing so? Gadgets and apps are great tools to aid in time management and scheduling, but they fail to provide what the follower of Jesus really needs.

Rather than the latest gadget or app, the follower of Jesus must have a mind focused on the Lordship of Jesus Christ that acknowledges HIS authority over every aspect of life and a heart set on surrender to HIS will, even if it means a severe amendment to the family calendar. Keeping Christ at the center of a busy week only happens if one has already submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every moment of life. Every decision. Every calendar date. Every event. Nothing in the life of a Christ-follower is outside the realm of his authority. Without this understanding, calendars quickly fill up with things that lay claim to space the Lord Jesus has already claimed. Then we wonder why life feels so chaotic.

Finally, if Christ is to be kept at the center of a busy week, faithful participation in weekly worship services at one’s local church should be non-negotiable, unless providentially hindered.

The follower of Jesus needs the encouragement of worshiping through music, the faithful preaching of God’s Word, and the fellowship with other Christians.

If Christ is not the Lord of every week, no chance exists that he will miraculously be central to a busy week, even though he can work miracles. As Paul I says, make the best use of the time, for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15–16). The best use of the time, Christian, is to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.