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We rush through the world trying to convert as many people as possible, hoping that in heaven there’s a bell that will ring to signify when we’ve reached the holy number so Christ can finally return!
Within Reach
by Falvo Fowler
And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it is sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way
But you’re older
Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death.
— Pink Floyd “Time”
We all have 24 hours in a day. And most of us try to cram in 35 at the very least. What with being connected to work when we’re out of the office—with our wireless, BlackBerries®, cell phones, etc.―we’re just marionettes with our strings attached to the daily grind. But it isn’t only work. Even our personal lives are on overtime. We run and we run. Even though we don’t know what we’re catching, we still continue to chase it.
And to help us, the caffeine industry has their product in almost everything. We first had coffee and tea. Then came drinks like Red Bull and Full Throttle. And now we have caffeine in mints, chewing gum, and even soap.
People just feel the need to stay awake, because 24 hours does not make a day when you’re racing to get something done that never seems to get done.
Christians are not exempt from this lifestyle. We rush through the world trying to convert as many people as possible, hoping that in heaven there’s a bell that will ring to signify when we’ve reached the holy number so Christ can finally return!
OK. Maybe that isn’t completely fair. But then again, maybe it is. Think about it. Ministers, gospel workers, basically most Christians, put the “work” of ministry ahead of everything else, believing that’s what God expects. There are people who travel 9 months out of 12 and then spend less than the remaining 3 with their spouse or family. Ministry? I’m not sure.
What would Jesus do?
Let’s see now. He took 30 years to prepare for 3 years of ministry. We know that when He started His ministry, His mother was close enough to ask Him to do a favor for a family friend. Something like that just doesn’t happen if you’re not home much.
Even during His 3 years of ministry, Jesus spent time with friends, ate with associates (and it wasn’t just a business lunch in an hour), attended parties, and spent hours praying (and not in that particular order of importance). He even took 40 days to commune with God.
In our efforts to read the fine print (of course, in the King James Version) we fail to see Jesus’ example of living. He balanced His life with what’s important: God, humans, and time for Himself. And His ministry stands through time.
Perhaps our ministry and our lives would not be such a hectic chase if we stopped and realized that a 24-hour day is just that―24 hours―and that we’re not supposed to pack in more than that.
I write this not because I’m preaching, but because I need to see this in type. I’ve spent the last 3 weeks staying up until 3 in the morning because I had projects that demanded more time than I had in a given work day―Christian projects, and Christians on the other side of the world who almost demanded that I reply to their e-mails, even if they wrote it on Sabbath. But most of all, because I’ve created this obscene schedule for myself, believing that with just a little more time I could get a lot more done. But in reality, a little more begged for a lot more than I had to give.
Why is it that being so connected seems to suck the life out of us? Why don’t we even recognize that we’re breathless? Why do we, who profess a peace beyond understanding, not know how to come to an understanding of balance and peace?
We run and we run, but it just seems like we’re not catching up with the Son. Perhaps it’s because He’s standing still, waiting for us to come to our senses and realize we’ve been running in circles around Him rather than running toward Him.
And He has always been right there―within reach.
No caffeine, no strings, no wireless, just reaching out and believing.
Peace!