Productive Use Of Waiting Room Time

For various medical reasons, folks spend much of their time these days in doctor's waiting rooms across the country to see a doctor. For example, my late wife and I once spent over two hours in a doctor's waiting room for an ear cleaning procedure that only took five minutes. The time we spent in waiting for that procedure to take place, was wasted and unproductive time.

There are people who make productive use of their waiting room time, by knitting while they wait or by reading a good novel. Others play electronic games, listen to music on their iPods, or send text messages to their friends via their smart phones.

However, as Christians, waiting room time can be a productive time for reading and studying our Bibles (Ephesians 3:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

Not only can we be productive in reading and studying God's word, but we can also influence other folks in the waiting room for good, when they observe us reading and studying our Bibles. I've had folks ask me about what Bible book I was reading or what Bible topic I was studying.

I've even had some people ask me a Bible-related question. This provides us with an excellent opportunity to teach God's word via the medium of a doctor's waiting room. There's also the possibility of scheduling a future home Bible study.

Dear reader, while we are waiting to see a doctor, or a host of other places, such as hospitals, airports, grocery stores, traffic tie-ups, tax and social security offices, etc., let us make productive use of our waiting time, by using that time wisely (Ephesians 5:16-17 -- see video), being productive in doing the Lord's work (1 Corinthians 15:58).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets