I am constantly meditating on the subject of time, and on how much I hate this culture we live in (not the people, but the rat race, materialistic, hustle and bustle lifestyle that consumes so many believers, keeping them running in the endless hamster wheel). It pulls us from intimate fellowship with Jesus, and with each other, and keeps us from living a life for the next Kingdom. It is so easy for you and I to get caught up in a "hurry-worry syndrome," busy, but busy doing too much of nothing as far as eternity is concerned. Busy with making money to pay off things we do not need, juggling too many things. It all seems ultra-important at the moment---but later we realize much was done at the expense of cultivating a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our Father.
Many are being held hostage by this time-consuming culture with its endless entertainment, family events, baby showers for second cousins, birthday parties for relatives, much needed overtime to pay off consumer debt, etc., etc. THIS IS NOT HOW WE WERE MEANT TO LIVE. We are here on earth to get to know our Father and to make Him know to others who have yet to know Him. If you were to ask most Christians "who is the light of the world, the most common answer you would get back would be Jesus. However this is not what Jesus said. Jesus said clearly WE are the light of the world.
“YOU are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people who light a lamp stand put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:13-16
Maybe the "Bowl" we put over our lamp stand is being busy and having misguided priorities. Ask yourself, "Have I put the "bowl" of not having enough time over the light that God has given me? When is the last time I took the time to tell someone their need for Jesus?
Knowing how prone we are to this, Jesus offered His followers a different lifestyle. It is two fold.
First he said, "Mary has chosen what is better." Luke 10:42 That is sitting at His feet. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:2, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."
This summer take some time to sit in a hammock with some lemonade and a Bible. Go on a walk with Jesus in a beautiful park and talk with Him as you view His creation. Jesus set aside time by himself to talk to His Dad. How much more needful this should be for us. But it requires taking the time to do it and it takes a restructuring of our lifestyle.
The second thing that Jesus instructed His followers to do that would pull them away from the vain patterns of the world is to set aside time to tell others of the Father's Love. Luke 10:1-3 says,“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to EVERY town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. GO! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.’”
Notice 3 things about this verse that should cause us to change our lifestyle:
1. First, He tells us as His disciples to pray for workers. I am not trying to put a guilt trip over any of us, but to wake us up out of this "American Dream" slumber. So I will ask, "When is the last time you took time to ask the Father to send out workers into His field?"
2. Second, we need to ask ourselves this question about the above command from Jesus: "Is it right to pray for something that we ourselves are not willing to do?"
3. Finally, notice that as soon as He tells them to "ask the Lord of the harvest for workers", He immediately says "GO" to the very ones that He just got done telling to pray.
As we enter a new season of the year, I simply want to remind us all to hit the reset button of our lifestyle. We need to pull away from this godless, busy, materialistic culture, and restructure our lives in such a way that we have time to sit at His feet, and have time to reach out to those who do not know our awesome Father.