Stop it already. Just
stop. Take a deep breath, slowly
exhale. Now just for a minute prioritize
all the things you still need to do today, as if you were going to literally be
dead tomorrow. Not trying to be morbid,
but does anything actually still exist on your “important” list of
to-do’s. I doubt it. In point of fact, the only things that remain
on a list of to-do’s when seriously expecting imminent death – are the things
that really matter – i.e. relationships and the sharing of love. In those critical last minutes of flight 93,
and on the floors trapped above the flames in the twin towers, how many cell
phone calls were placed to loved ones to simply say those critical words … I
love you.
No one in that position calls the office to get that one
last task moved along a little further.
No one calls the mall to see if they still have that item you have been
shopping for. They call the people who
matter. Then they say the only thing
that really matters in the time they have left.
But remove the threat of impending, remove the immediacy, and we resume
life as if we have all the time in the world to get around to attending to those
precious things. People seem to make
little time to love until they realize how truly important time is. This is the lesson of our mortality. To help us see that the fragility of life
should guide us closer to the things that really matter, and keep us from
wasting the time we have been given.
Seconds count, minutes matter, hours are precious, days are a gift,
years are a treasure. You cannot measure
time by money, as the value of time is far greater than that of money.
And while the world around us makes little time to love,
they make even less time for the Author of love. The Bible speaks of a “remnant” groups of
believers who greet the Lord when He comes again. Remnant is all that remains. When I look around at the crippling
distractions of our lives, and see so few people who even care if they miss
time with God, I am amazed at how many seem perfectly content in the pain they
live with each day. People seem to run
full speed and head first into the brick walls in their immediate path, damaging
themselves, and hurting everyone who cares for them. And then they do it again and again, each
time seemingly having forgotten the immediate past. We carry our burdens ourselves, knowing we
are not up to the task, failing miserably, and then act surprised at the
results.
“Why me?” cries the alcoholic while pouring drink after
drink into the glass in front of them.
When not completely overcome by the effects of their condition, the
alcoholic has no time for God, no time for love, and has to work even harder to
make up for the time lost to their condition.
A spiraling downward tornado designed to pull us beyond our hope. But a still small voice cries out, “you don’t
have to live this way.” It reminds us …
“I came so that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” Lay your burdens, your addictions, your
self-inflicted pain, on Jesus and find “Rest.”
While the world seems content to ignore their painful
conditions; Christians claim the name of God, but remain content doing no
better for themselves than emulating the lives of the world. Christians, despite council to the contrary,
allow themselves to become just as distracted, just as busy, and just as
self-reliant as their neighbors all around them. Instead of surrendering the will to Christ,
and becoming a new creature, we cling to the old carnal one and seek to feed
our lust. Instead of learning to give up
to God, and find His way of our escape from sin, we dash towards sin at full
speed ahead – counting only on the mercy of forgiveness to save us, rather than
the power of Christ to actually change what we choose to do.
Sometimes as I look around both inside and outside of the
church, I wonder is anyone really still waiting for His return? Does anyone just miss hanging out with God
anymore? Does anyone have any questions
for Him that don’t start with the words; “can I have …” Does anyone actually offer love upwards, or
do they merely seek it from Him, not for Him.
I wonder, is what I see all that remains?
God setup the original day off concept all the way back at
the beginning of our existence. He knew,
better than us, that we needed to take a break from our routines, or we would
go nuts. God loves to hang out with us,
and so He setup a day just for that. One
day in seven to spend with us, to talk with us, to enjoy with us, to just hang
out with us. But fast forward to 2009
and man has left behind any lingering ideas of hanging out with God
anymore. We simply do not have time for Him.
In the book of Exodus, in the definition of love God
outlined in 10 precepts of His character, He stated … “remember the Sabbath day
to keep it holy.” While we may have
forgotten God, He has not forgotten us.
He still wants to hang out with us.
It was the only precept that included the word – “Remember”. But like everything else, the one we should
get the most enjoyment out of, is the one we “forget” first. Once the concept of communing with God had
left the building, early Jews made a long list of the do’s and don’ts for
remembering the Sabbath. The list
eventually grew until little practicality or sense was left in it. Later, Catholics blended existing pagan
traditions of the day into the church and the practices of keeping the day
holy. And more recently, Seventh Day
Adventists entered the scene, recreating the lists of do’s and don’ts and
deciding to treat this day as either a weapon to judge others by, or something
to simply ignore altogether.
It is interesting to me that SDA’s believe that keeping the
seventh day as the Sabbath will be the end-time test of true fidelity to
God. But they get all wrapped up in the
number of the day (Seven, not the First); rather than on what the meaning of “keeping
it” truly is. Our human tendency is to
create rules rather than deal with motives.
We prefer structure to freedom of thought. We fear that freedom may lead to danger. But this is because we truly do NOT trust our
God. Our rules, our lists, and our
professed methods of keeping the Sabbath are complete moo-moo-caca. We have lost sight of what it is to simply
hang out with God. Put away our work,
put away the commercial demands of the world, provide for our own needs for a
bit and give the neighbor a rest, and just hang out with God. We place our burdens on Him and in this alone
find “rest.”
I look around me and see a world full of non-believers who
appear to have little concern for God, and in their stubborn efforts to remain
in control of their lives, they live with regret and unnecessary pain that a
loving God would long to take away. I
look around me and see a church of believers who claim the name of Christ but
have no idea what it means to live without pain, as they do not embrace the
freedom of surrender to Christ. Both
groups obsessed with the illusion of control, both groups hopelessly burdened
with lists of to-do’s they will never quite complete, both groups distracted
from their own demise. And yet there
remains hope for them both, as there remains hope for me. Time is not out just yet. I pray that the Lord will prevent me from
pursuing control to the detriment of my own soul, and will restore between us
the time to just hang out once again. I
have to believe it is not quite time yet for what I see to be - all that
remains …
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