If you have a moment, check out this quick video.
When my twin sister and I were growing up we used to visit my grandparents in Florida every year. It was a five hour trip. When you’re six years old that’s an eternity! We’d hop in our smoking hot yellow Fiat, sing the buckle up for safety song that commenced every trip, and distract ourselves with games such as identifying as many license tags from different states as possible, looking for words on billboards that began in alphabetical order (with the exception of X and Z words which were impossible to find), a hundred games of “I Spy” and occasionally we’d be bribed to play the quiet game! We had much more fun playing games than if we’d only been focused on the burning question of “Are we there yet?”
The Jews struggled with this same idea. They were so focused on when Jesus was going to establish the kingdom (very soon in their minds) when in fact Jesus had never given them a specific time or date. II Peter chapter 3 says “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day… .the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” Jesus exhorts the crowd to be productive with their time, and assures them that he will return.
How are you living today, this moment? Are you so focused on His return that you are neglecting to live each day to the fullest?
Consider Acts 2:42. Take a moment to assess yourself in these five areas:
Prayer
Praise
Fellowship
Outreach
Teaching
Make SMART (specific, measurable,attainable,realtistic,time sensitve) goals to sharpen your mind in these five areas of your peripateo (Greek biblical word to describe a persistent disposition, a behavior pattern, a character trait, or a lifestyle), and the next time you wonder “Are we there yet?” rather ask yourself “Am I making the most of my time yet?”
June 29th, 2009 - 4:49 am
Angie, great point, and to answer the video…NO!!! I’ll tell you when we are there! I remember doing the same thing on our family roadtrips, we didn’t have gameboys, or portable DVD’s, or nintendo DS..or any other cool mind numbing entertainment.
I don’t know if anyone has seen “I am Legend” with Will Smith. It is a “zombie” movie so I am not recommending it, however there is a scene where Will goes to the pier in NYC and waits everyday to see if anyone else is alive. He has a broadcast that is going out telling people where he is. But at a certain time he goes home and gets back to work.
There is a time to wait and dream about the coming of Christ. There is a place in our hearts that desire His return. But then there is work still to be done. So we must quit daydreaming and get to work; His work. And by we…I mean I!
June 29th, 2009 - 9:24 am
I have been earnestly working on my relationship with God recently. I find that if I simply talk out loud to him through out the day, then it is easier for me to think of him as my friend, protector, and Father. There was a time when I felt un-worthy of that relationship. The great thing is, the more I read his word and the more I pary to him and talk to him, the easier it is and the more I want. I have learned that he is reaching out to me all the time, I simply need to reach back. Do my part.
Having said that , I agree that we have work to do now. We have a ton of activities coming up inside and outside our church walls. Let us not forget to show our love for God to the cashier at the grocery store, to our neighbor and to our friends along our way.
June 29th, 2009 - 3:50 pm
Hey Herb,
Great analogy from “I am Legend”. Such a great point about work still needing to be done………