Time

It's always an ongoing struggle in my life, TIME that is.  I mean, where does it go? Where can we get more of it?  What do I do with my time?  How do I prioritize my life in the time that I have?  How do I use my time wisely?  There are never enough hours in the day.  Or is there?!


We seem to be busy most of our days.  We have a lot to do and not alot of time to do it in.


In Luke 17, Jesus was talking with the Pharisees about the coming of the Kingdom of God. They were asking him when the kingdom of God would come.  They were referring to TIME.  Jesus replies in vs. 20-21, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."


Jesus gives 2 examples of times when people were too busy to notice the work of God around them.


In the days of Noah...

²⁶ And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

In the days of Lot...

^28 [r]It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and ^[s]brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

Then the Lord gives a warning that we MUST listen to...

³⁰ It will be ^[t]just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³Whoever seeks to keep his ^[u]life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶ [^[v]Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] 

In my Chronological Bible Study, the author writes:
"Why does Jesus use Lot's wife to illustrate the coming of the kingdom?  Let's just imagine together what life must have looked like for the wife of a city council member by looking at her Day Timer.


6:45   Get up, brush teeth, notice how the color of your "Life is good" t-shirt matches your eye color
7:00   Do a few exercises, maybe light a candle for fresh aroma and mood enhancement, get dressed for a long, busy day
7:30   Get hubby off to work and check e-mail and Facebook
8:00   Make bed and do light house work (if time allows)
9:00   Manicure and Pedicure (maybe even a facial if time allows)
10:00  DSW (definitely NEED another pair of trendy new sandals)
11:30  Meet some of the other wives for light lunch and a bit of shopping
3:00    Stop by Fresh Market and pick up Southwest Stuffed Chicken Breasts, bread and a salad for dinner (also snacks for her Bunco group which meets later in the evening and trick or treating candy for the grandkids)
4:30  Upload ballgame photos to Facebook
5:00  Google information about tummy tuck procedures
5:30  Throw dinner together
6:45  Change into new jeans picked up earlier in the day and set out snacks for the Bunco party which starts at 7:00
10:30   See who's online and do more research on tummy tuck procedures and other plastic surgery procedures


My emphasis here:
11:00  Too tired to spend time with the Lord because your day has been TOO busy with non-eternal things!


Ouch!  Isn't that how our days look most of the time?!  Maybe not tummy tuck procedures or manicures, pedicures and shopping every day but other things fill those spaces.


What part of the day are you giving to the Lord?  Are you giving him the leftovers at the end or none because you have it all together?  Nothing bad is going on in your life right now so you don't really need God, right?  Maybe you are filling your time with hours of useless tv after work because you "deserve" it after your hard day, or going to hours of baseball because you have to get that scholarship, working in the yard to reach perfection, getting great ideas on Pinterest (ouch!), checking Facebook, blogging, or taking pictures (ouch, ouch and ouch!), or just cleaning your house (ouch!).  Or maybe you are like the Pharisees and you are you too busy for God because you are busy for God...ya know, working the nursery, decorating the church, working a women's retreat weekend, cooking for a church breakfast???  None of these things are wrong per se, but they are considered an idol if you have put them over the Lord.  You might have worked all day "doing" for the Lord but you haven't stopped to spend quality time with the Lord as you should.


Or are you giving Him the first of your day, the best of your energies, and the undivided attention He deserves?


Let's be careful we are not too busy for the Lord.  He warns us to be ready at any given moment for the "kingdom of God is near." Let's fill our days with things that matter for the kingdom, not the busy-ness of life, the American Dream.  These "things" we can't take with us.  Jesus tells us in Luke 14:35, "In the same way, any of you does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."


What is it that you need to "give up" because it is taking the place of the Lord?


Do you have time for the Lord "penciled in" today?  If not, let's re-prioritize and make it happen.  He deserves all we have to give.


And MORE.