Time

How precious of a commodity is time? I don't know about the rest of the world but in America time is the currency that supports our busy lifestyles. We are on the move constantly. We think that we are making good time and yet some of us are oblivious about the direction we are traveling. That's what happens when you are moving too fast. You just don't have time to adjust. Most of us just keep moving along anyway. We'll know when we get there. That's how we sub-consciously approach things.

Have you ever wondered about the affect that this is having on all of us? I really don't think that we understand the implications. I have more time now than I used to because I am semi-retired but I still find myself immersed in things that prevent me from partaking in more meaningful activities. The way we spend our time is a clear indicator of where we are investing our soul, our spirit, and our energy. When you think of it in those terms you begin to wonder about what is happening to us as people.

When I read the Bible I begin to see that life is about relationships. It's not about do's and don'ts and religious duty. It's about our relationship with God and one another. Most of us can reminisce about the days of our youth when our relationships were paramount to us and that made life exciting. There was adventure.

Our life style in America has cut into the relational aspect of living. We are often forced to compartmentalize relationships. We join clubs and churches. We have to set aside specific times to have fun because the rest of our time is filled with enormous responsibility. Most of us as we grow older are still living off the relationships that we formed in high school and college. It's harder to develop meaningful relationships when you are raising a family.

Having said that, no wonder we have such a difficult time getting close to God and His purposes. We are hoping that the sermon on Sunday or the weekly home group will take care of that part. That is not the way it is supposed to work. No wonder we cannot see God in our daily lives. We have to set aside time for Him, in all due respect so that we can get our stuff done. Don't you see how insane that sounds? We are really fooling ourselves and missing the real fun in life. I am just now seeing the benefits having a bit more time. I'm starting to seek God more and I am starting to enjoy people more.

The time issue has caused us all to lean heavily on the institutional church to fill our "God" time slot. Giving our God time over to the institutions has created a huge economic empire and millions of leaner's. It's been so subtle. Inadvertently to many we have caused this to happen. The good news is that there is a solution. We can re-arrange some things so that God can have His way in our life. We don't have to quit our jobs and go live in seclusion. I can tell you this much. I have learned through a lot of trial and error that God is more interested in your life outside of the institutional church. I really think that this is the rub with God. He watches us do the Sunday thing on His behalf supposedly and then never hears from us the rest of the week. This is what we have created. We have put distance between us and Him because we have placed our own time controls on our relationship with God our father. How sad is that.

When Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do", He addressed our ignorance with His loving grace. Jesus understands what we are capable of and He understands the dilemma that we have in America. We need to go to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and in doing so we will receive guidance from the Holy Spirit. Life can be good. We just need to give it all back to Him.