We have a blender at home that is
truly amazing. We can put almost
anything in there and get a smoothie out of it: unpeeled fruit, raw vegetables, spare car parts… the possibilities are endless. The motor is so powerful that you have to be
careful not to turn it on at full speed.
You have to start on the lowest setting and work your way up, or else
the thing might just launch into the stratosphere.
Sometimes I feel like life is a bit
like my blender. I throw in a full
serving of fatherhood and husbanding, a healthy dose of ministry, a smattering
of soccer coaching, a few spoonfulls of extended family, a smidge of exercise,
and you’ve got a life smoothie. Oh, and
don’t forget to add an undetermined cup of sickness to make it
interesting. Sometimes the blender is on
low, but there are other seasons when it feels like someone just turned it up
to the speed of the chipper my tree trimmer uses. In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller,
“Life moves pretty fast.” One way I know I’m too busy is that when people
actually say to me, “I know you’re
busy, but do you have time to get together?” When I’m projecting busyness to everyone
around me, that’s a sign I need to slow the blender down or manage my
ingredients better. Realistically we all
know we are busy people, and it often feels like there is nothing we can remove
from our schedules. So with all our packed calendars, how do we manage to
cultivate real communion with God, true fellowship with His people and
significant ministry to those around us?
Hmm, sounds like “worship God,
live in community, and serve our world.” Three simple things that may in
fact help us decide what is important and what is not! There are many different
ways to answer this question, but for this post let’s just think about one
thing you can do for starters, one thing God has given to help you manage the
blender well. He has given you the Lord’s Day.
Sundays have perhaps been the most significant way I’ve found that
God has helped me not lose my sanity.
But before we go there and
unwittingly turn this into a handy list of time management skills, remember our
Savior first. You see, Jesus himself was
busy – perhaps more busy than we would ever be.
He was constantly teaching, healing, meeting with people, preaching from
city to city and in general doing His Father’s work. He was extremely busy, but He seemed to
always have time for people and seemed to be swimming in a life of
prayer. Granted, He was the divine Son
of God, so one thing He never allowed to drain his time was the entrapment of
sin. But He dealt with the same
temptations we do – temptations to waste and misuse time, temptations to engage
in sinful activities, and temptations to say yes to the wrong things. But what gave His life clarity was the perfect
focus concerning His mission. We must always
remember that we have a Savior who lived His days with perfect balance of
communion with the father, fellowship with His disciples and ministry to the
world. Even in the end, when He hung on
the cross, it was all according to the perfect plan and mission laid out for
Him. Praise God for a Savior who has
lived His life perfectly and died for our failures in this area! The grace we have received from Him is to be
a constant fountain for us to return to and be quenched. Our busyness often hinders us from feasting on the Gospel.
The Lord’s Day is one of God's chief means to feast on the good news. When you see it this way, it then becomes a gift
of His grace rather than another event on the calendar. We need our Sundays not just as a break from
our schedules, but as a full day to drink from the waters of divine mercy. It is the day God has provided so we
can see and savor Jesus’ beauty and love for us! God has given you a day where you don’t have
to be ruled by your to-do list and your event calendar. Have you ever tried to add another event to
your calendar only to have siri respond “You already have five overlapping appointments
then. Are you sure you want to schedule this meeting?” If so, then the Lord’s Day is God’s rest from
the blender. Imagine one whole day in
seven where the sole focus is on God. We
rise to worship God in the morning; God speaks to us and renews His covenant to
us in worship and shows us again His love poured out through the cross of Christ. On the Sabbath we get the joy of looking
forward to our eternal rest when we will be at home with the Lord forever. God gives us the gift of His people: we can
be together, singing, praying enjoying one another, learning together (the
reason for Sunday School!). One of the
sweetest parts of the Lord’s Day for me is getting to be with God’s people,
sharing a meal on a Lord’s Day afternoon or evening. Now don’t get me wrong: As a pastor, Sunday is my busiest day of the
week. When the Lord’s Day is over, I’m
tired! Some Sundays aren’t as full, so I
take a nap (without guilt – it is a day of rest!). But this day is also the sweetest for my
soul! The opportunity is there for me to
focus on God, His Word and His people without the pressures that invade Monday
through Saturday. Often God even uses
the Lord’s Day as an opportunity to share the Gospel with unbelievers too. What better day than Sunday to reach out to
someone who doesn’t know Christ?
Our calendars are all full –
perhaps so full that other important things are getting lost. Deciding what is
important and needful in our lives is a difficult question. But God knows you need rest, and He has given
you a day where you don’t have to say “yes” to those things. One entire day in seven is free for the good
of your soul. If you are like me and
often feel trapped by the calendar, then let me encourage you to clear away the
things that drain the glory and joy from the Sabbath. It may become the pinnacle of your week, the
way God designed it to be.
Looking forward to our eternal rest –
Pastor David
