The break is officially over. I’m back working again, back ‘into the swing of things,’ by which I assume means back into the usual routines of my daily life. You may have noticed that just after I said I was going to try and blog about once a week, I suddenly stopped posting blogs. I was going on vacation and decided that entailed everything in my normal life, including writing. It was a much needed break, one that has left me loathe to get back into my duties and responsibilities as a husband, father, Christian and employee.
My lack of desire to really get grinding to work again has caused me to start thinking about wasting time. I asked myself the question, ‘what if i lived every day without wasting any time at all?’ The mere thought of it causes me to feel tired and heavy. Reflecting on this question has led me to believe that I approach my days with an unconscious desire to simply kill time. I seem to be constantly looking for ways in which to distract my mind, to ‘get through my day.’ It's funny, too, because if you were to ask me, I'd probably tell you I was really busy now. I sometimes come to the end of the work day and think to myself, 'oh no! I have so much left to get done!' Then I think back on how I spent my day and see lots of wasted time. I guess it's a case of waste not, want not. If I didn't waste the time to begin with, I wouldn't be begging for more time to finish things. I hope the microcosm of 1 day doesn't hold true for the sum total of my life!
Reading biographies of great Christian men such as Robert C. Chapman and George Mueller have led me to believe that a pretty common thread in the lives of godly Christian men and women is a constant drive to use their time for godly pursuits. It seems to me that a key to godliness is using all of the time available to us in connection with the Lord. Not only this, but it seems to me almost as though by holding back and wanting to ‘waste time,’ we’re actually holding something away from God.
Imagine spending every free moment of the day thinking on portions of Scripture you’ve been memorizing or talking with the Lord? I can’t. It’s a terrible thing to admit, but I can’t imagine giving every moment of the day over to God. I’ve spent a lot of time talking as though I’ve been doing it, and I think at one point in my life I actually was, but not now. It seems to me like it would be too burdensome to always be thinking spiritually. It seems like it would cost me my friends, yes even my church friends, if I were to live like that.
Though it does seem like that is what God has called us to do...
