A word from walt
Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?
With this question Charles Hummel begins his classic essay, Tyranny of the Urgent*. While many may think that additional hours in the day would make our lives more productive and less stressed, Hummel says:
… our dilemma goes deeper than a shortage of time; it is basically the problem of priorities.
Hummel uses Jesus as an amazing example of someone who …
… finished the work God gave him to do (see John 17:4)
… never seemed rushed or stressed
… always had time for people
… did it all in only three years!
We might read that quick summary and assume that what Jesus did was only possible because he was the Son of God. Hummel, however, has a different analysis:
What was the secret of Jesus’ work? We find a clue following Mark’s account of Jesus’ busy day: “….in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). Here is the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God: He prayerfully waited for His Father’s instructions and for the strength to follow them. Jesus had no divinely-drawn blueprint; He discerned the Father’s will day by day in a life of prayer. By this means He warded off the urgent and accomplished the important.
Hummel, like many others, encourages us to follow Jesus’ example by spending time each day prayerfully waiting and listening for the Father’s instructions (a.k.a. ‘Quiet Time’). However, if we’re already stressed for time, how can we possibly find time each day to be alone with God? One simple suggestion:
Even though the time changed last night, our ‘body clock’ is still on Daylight Savings Time. This means that tomorrow morning, at the time when our bodies have been getting up for months, our alarm clock will likely indicate we still have another hour to sleep.
What could happen if we redeemed at least a portion of the extra hour we were ‘given’ last night? What could happen if we made and implemented a plan to follow Jesus’ example by getting up a little earlier than usual for a personal meeting with God?
Warning: It could be life-changing!
*You can Google “Tyranny of the Urgent” and read this entire essay on the internet.
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Brentwood Hills
Church of Christ
5120 Franklin Road
Nashville, Tennessee 37220
Phone: (615) 832-2541
Fax: (615) 832-2583
church@brentwoodhills.org
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