Imagine if you did not have to squeeze in ministry opportunities around your job. What would you do if you had an abundance of time to build God’s kingdom?

What would you do if you had an abundance of time to build God’s kingdom?

That is really how Christians should think about retirement. It is an opportunity to serve God when work cannot interfere.

Once you are retired, you can devote yourself to the following:

1. Leading Bible studies

You might have had time to lead a few Bible studies here and there, but they are not what you have always had in mind. You inevitably end up grabbing a few pre-written workbooks and trying to wade through them with your group before work.

Retirement allows you the time needed to write that study curriculum you have been thinking about for years. And once it is written, you can teach it in multiple studies—and train others to teach it too.

2. Volunteering with ministries

Maybe you have thought about starting a prison ministry or serving the homeless at the local mission, but you keep putting it off. These kinds of ministries seem to always take up more time than you have. So you end up telling yourself, “Some day, when there’s more time, I will give it a whirl.”

Would it not be great to actually have the time to invest not only in serving with these ministries but perhaps even overseeing them?

3. Mentoring others

The Bible states the value of spiritually mature believers’ advising and training those younger in the faith. But that kind of involvement in another’s life can only go so far in one-hour monthly increments. It takes a genuine time investment to forge the trust and connection necessary to truly mentor someone.

If you no longer had to work every day, you would find yourself able to accommodate those kinds of relationships with young people in your church.

4. Writing a blog

Perhaps you have fantasized about starting a blog to share your thoughts and perspective. You have spiritual depth from which people could benefit, but you know how much effort goes into writing (and getting people to read it). You have intended to get around to it eventually.

Imagine having dozens of free hours a week to write, manage, and share your own blog! You would have all the time you needed to write powerful content that would inspire people all over the world—and you could create relationships with other bloggers.

5. Sharing the gospel

Sometimes when you are traveling for work, you have incredible opportunities to share the gospel with fellow travelers. Moments like this might have made you wish you had a lot of time to build relationships and share your faith with nonbelievers.

The church needs retired people committed to fashioning new friendships with people who do not know Jesus.

6. Learning theology

It could be that you always intended to further your theological education, but something always got in the way. You are never too old to pursue the MDiv you always dreamed of and take a more active role in church leadership.

In fact, you might even embolden others to follow in your footsteps!

There is No End to the Opportunities

Retirement does not have to be about driving around in an RV or playing shuffleboard. It could be the beginning of an entirely new season of powerful and effective ministry—but you have to plan for it. So again, what would you do if you had an abundance of time to build God’s kingdom?