“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered-how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:4-5)
The legendary retired NFL Coach Joe Gibbs told a story of one day when he wrapped up one of his 12-14 hour days that he commonly put in while coaching the Washington Redskins. He said he went to his boy’s room one night to kiss them good night but realized something-they were no longer boys but men. He had missed his sons growing up. The price he paid was very high and the price his family paid was even higher.
How much time each day do we spend doing things that don’t matter? The older I get and the more demands I have on my life the more I have guarded my time. This of course makes some people mad but I’ve learned through watching others mistakes and I am determined not to sacrifice my life or my families at the altar of other things that don’t matter.
A well meaning guy not long ago (this seems to happen a lot to pastors) approached me about helping coach a football team. It’s not that this wasn’t important it just isn’t something that I would need to do right now. When I responded by telling him that I didn’t have time he looked at me confused and said ignorantly, “You can’t be that busy being a youth pastor.”(I guess this person thought I play paintball all day with kids)While I know he didn’t know any better or know that I could easily book every night of the week I stood my ground saying what so many of us need to learn to say-“NO!”. Hear is a startling revelation. What if you said “Yes” to everybody that asked you to do something? Revelation…You have “0” time left.
We fill our schedules with long hours of work (which isn’t always necessarily bad as long as it’s balanced annd not neglecting), 2-3 hobbies, late nights, and doing other things that yes, may be fun but don’t matter any more for eternity than chewing gum. What about doing things that do matter? What about spending time with the one whom we will give account to? What about prayer? Most people (including ministers) spend maybe at best 15 minutes a day praying to the God of the universe! 15 minutes! Yet, we get mad when these ministers say no to something we ask them to do yet expect them to hear from God!? We spend 8 hours a week watching T.V. and 15 minutes a day with God?! Is that messed up?
What about our families? What about our greatest responsibilities? Our kids? Our husbands and wives? They have far too many times been put on the back burner to sports, “ministry”, and other things. We work so many hours a week and justify it by “providing” for them. Is it really providing for our family we are after or that “step-up” in society? That extra car? That bigger house? That larger bank account? That “extra” money? What if we took a cut in our lavish lifestyles so that we could spend more time with things (people) that won’t burn up instead of the things that will (houses, cars, etc.). As an author once put it, “Full-time job + Full-time job= something gets neglected (most of the times our families). Spend time investing in your families! Before you know it your young ones will be grown and out of the house! As a youth pastor so many times I have to do what mom or dad should be doing (taking them to eat, movies, spending quality time with them, etc.). We need to spend time “ministering” to our own kids before we “minister” to others! Amen? I can’t tell you how blown away at how quickly my little girl is growing up. Sometimes I go in her room at night and just stare at her and ask God to please help me make the most of my time with her! Because before you and I know it we will blink and our kids will be grown, we will have gray hair on our head, and our lives will be done. Then what? Only the things we spent time doing will stand the test of time.
Please guys, I encourage you to sit down and take a serious look at how we spend our time. Take a serious look at your priorities, your schedule, your motives, and remember our life is but a mist and vapor! I love you and have prayed for all of you today!
2 comments:
Good point!!!
Jeannie
Wow! I still struggle to say "no" sometimes because I have always been prone in the past to worry about what people think. Oh but the freedom of saying "no" and doing the things God wants me to do. It's like throwing off the weights! I don't want distractions or weights, I can't afford them. To be free of what people think and just focus on doing things God's way is the freedom to live for Him.
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