Our Precious Commodity

Today the most precious treasure we possess seems to be our TIME! We pour billions of research dollars into our relentless pursuit in these ‘techno-efficient’ times to create the easiest, quickest solutions to our basic problems. We couldn’t wait for the stove to cook our bacon so someone invented the microwave, and now we have ‘Precooked INSTANT Bacon’. It took way too long to send letters via Pony Express (which we now refer to as ‘Snail Mail’) so now we have ‘INSTANT Messaging’. Why wait for an accountant to file your return when you can get an ‘INSTANT Refund’? My point? In an attempt to make things quicker and easier, ironically our time seems to have drifted away like our dropped cell phone calls. Plus, have you really tasted that bacon?

Jesus told a familiar story about a man trying to grow some plants, who scattered seeds on various types of ground. He threw some seed on a path, some among thorns, and some on fertile soil. But he also threw some on ground that was full of rocks. Here’s what He said, “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” (Mark 4:5-6) Jesus’s disciples didn’t understand this veiled truth, so He revealed it to them: “(These people) hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
(Mark 4:16-17)

This description is filled with words we can relate to: “quickly”, “short time”, “at once”. Maybe we could use the word, “Instant” instead! Some people apply the rush of life to spiritual things, thinking there are such things as ‘instant Bible study’, or ‘microprayer’, or ‘mini-fasts’. But the soil is shallow, the understanding and openness to allowing God to produce fruit is superficial and skin-deep.

So hopefully before you set this newsletter down to check your voice mail, rush on to work, or eat a Hot Pocket, stop and take a personal inventory. Calculate how many hours in a day you do the following things:

Eat ______ Computer/games ______
Sleep ______ Spend family time ______
Watch TV ______ Read the Bible ______
Work ______ Pray ______
School ______ Leisure ______
Exercise ______ Talk with spouse ______
Add these up and here is your total: ________ Any hours left? _______


We all have 24 hours in a day—how is your time being spent?

Pilgrim