Pray
that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers,
and make the most of every opportunity.
Colossians 4:4-5 (NLT)
Paul asked
his Christian family to pray that he might make the most of every opportunity to
effectively proclaim the message of Jesus for as long as God allowed him life
and breath. The apostle understood the
tyranny of time and the rushing tide of evil in his times Eph 5:16.
Last week
Elizabeth was hunting through a kitchen cabinet for something to use in a
recipe and stumbled across a box of chocolate pudding. As she considered using it, the expiration
date caught her eye – a mere 10 years ago! As much as I love chocolate, I had to agree – that
stuff was not to be trusted!
Let’s face
it, the 5-second rule (about dropping food on the kitchen floor and
choosing whether to eat it or not) is easier on my brain than decade-old
pudding!
And now, for
the million dollar question: would YOU
have used it?
This little
integrity-when-using-pudding event got
me thinking about putting time and expiration dates to good use…something about
which I am plagued. I have a natural
tendency to procrastinate – to put things off because I can’t get my mind
around the complexity or enormity of a project.
I keep
imagining that the apostle was (like me) a charter member of the procrastinators
club. His simile of a tortured
mind…the things he wanted to do, he didn’t; the things he didn’t want to do, he
did…I know this all too well. Like Paul,
I try to fight for clarity and decisiveness in what to do next and simply getting
started.
And so, redeeming
the time is a very prophetic and valuable phrase to me – all the time!
I’ve got
several allies in my fight to redeem the time:
1.
God’s
Spirit. When Paul asked
others to pray it was because he knew himself; he knew he needed a holy support
system. And Paul knew himself, because
the Holy Spirit reveals who we are to our minds.
2.
God’s Word.
Scripture is authoritative and
beneficial to teach us how to serve God and each other 2 Timothy 3:16. This includes helping us know how to be
proactive, decisive and effective…when we’d rather just sit and procrastinate.
3.
Elizabeth! If ever God knew who to put me with for
lifetime partnership, this one is no doubt.
My bride looks at a task or project…and begins! She helps me stay focused on trusting God for
the outcome…just begin, for heaven’s sake!
(I hate it
when she’s right like that…but don’t tell her, ok?)
For You, Today…
Now…you’ve got some time to
redeem today.
What is it you haven’t
started on,
or worked on,
or let the expiration date slip 10 years into the
past?
What will you DO
today?
No comments:
Post a Comment