2000-10-26 -  Musings on Time

Deut 11:18-20 "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ¹⁹ And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. ²⁰ And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, (NAS)

I don't have a lot of idle time. I'm always doing something, and always seem to have more things that need to be done. I often joke that I am a perfect candidate for cloning. If there were two or three of me, one of me could actually sleep. I spend time with my friends, family, church, exercising, working professionally, working privately, yard work, paying bills and every now and then I get to read something or really listen to some music or lyrics. Yes, I am probably too busy.

There are a few people and things that I will carve out time for as a priority and there are things that are done on a schedule. Church is Sunday at 1:30pm. I don't have a lot of  say in that. I can't ask that we move it back 30 minutes because I have something to finish. It is something that is fixed. My writing time is usually Monday evenings, but it can move to Tuesday or even Wednesday at need. Time with my boys is any time we can grab it, be it a World Series game, bike riding or video games.

But there are some things that God wants us to do on a continual basis. We are told to pray continually (1 Thes 5:17). This is not something that comes readily to many of us. God's instruction  in Deuteronomy to keep His word constantly in the forefront of the mind is directed toward Israel, but we would do well to do the same. All the basics of life are covered in the Bible. It has been called the Owner's Manual for Life, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, and the Handbook for Humanity. The incredible richness of topics covered is impressive from relationships to giving to the church and the poor to the many facets of God's love for His creation. His greatest act of love was for the Son to lower Himself to live as one of us, perfectly keeping His Father's law so that He would be able to die in our place to reopen the path to Heaven for us.

There are parts of our Christianity that must be scheduled to work at all, like regular meetings for corporate worship. Whether you are called to worship on Sunday, Saturday or Tuesday - be there if you are able. There are parts of our life as Christians that should be as continual as breathing. But, just like learning to walk - which most of us do without thinking about it - it took time to develop the skill. Take the time.

There is an excellence that we are called to strive for - one that the world does not always understand or appreciate. But it is visible and it spills into the rest of our existence. If you need electrical work done, you call an electrician. If you need a door framed, you call a carpenter. If someone is hurting, suffering the loss of a loved one or a difficult illness or financial struggle, they often come looking for someone who has a spiritual nature for answers to things that are bigger than they understand. If God has placed the desire to be used by Him, to have Him draw people to you who need Him, learn to walk and to breath.

1 Thess 5:16-18 Rejoice always; ¹⁷ pray without ceasing; ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (NAS)

Lord Jesus - You have a calling for each one of us. When we are ready to begin the learning, we will hear Your call our hearts. Give us open, willing hearts and minds to learn all that You have for us. And when we stumble, and we will, give us courage to try again. Amen.

Grace & Peace,
Mike

 mhoskins@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org