In looking over today’s Bible Study I found a question that seemed directly aimed at me.
The question was: What are you living for today and how might you need to change the way you spend your time, energy, affections and resources?
For the last couple of years I’ve been a bit “off”. The company I worked for sold and I found myself without a job. Of course the obvious answer was, find another job! So, I did and I found that it wasn’t a good fit for me. In fact, I tried several jobs and none of them seemed be “be a good fit.” Was it me? At first I was concerned I just couldn’t be pleased. That isn’t the case; I’m just at loose ends with what to do with myself. I want to be productive; there’s something that keeps pulling at me and I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.
I’m actually of retirement age (hard to accept), happily married to a wonderful man who is himself retired and a bit restless with the empty time he now experiences. We’re both healthy, happy, comfortable and part of a beautiful church family. He does contract work so at least he does have something to focus on and stay just busy enough. Although between us we have three wonderful, grown, self- sufficient kids that we love, we don’t have grand-children and doubt there will ever be any. So, unlike our friends we don’t have that fulfilling not to mention time filling balance to our lives. We have a small, spoiled dog that we dote on. It’s not enough! (More on her another time.)
So, back to the question…What are you living for today and how might you need to change the way you spend your time, energy, affections and resources? It would make for better content to say that as I thought about this question I found and explored all sorts of scenarios that brought me to a final solution. I could write about the possibilities of how to productively spend time and explore how I could be of help to others making my time something useful.
That’s not the case. The moment I read these questions and reviewed the bible study I knew the answer. Live your life worthy of the Gospel of Christ. God can and does use any circumstance and anybody to advance the gospel. My current circumstance has happened in God’s perfect timing!
I like to write. I’m not a big talker though I’m no wallflower, but I am a good listener. It seems its easier for me to express myself through writing. Maybe it’s selfishness in that by writing I “have the floor to myself”. Maybe it’s because by writing I can review my thoughts and arrange them in the format that seems to be most effective. Unlike words that once leave your lips you can’t “undo and edit”, writing allows for rereads and redo’s.
Maybe it’s just because I like the quietness that allows me to focus on what I’m writing about. This always provides a special closeness to God; a time to be still in Gods presence with total reflection on Him and His gifts to us individually to use for His glory while we are in this temporary world. Whatever it is, this is my favorite way of expressing myself and it is my favorite time of day. It’s a time when I can reflect, talk to God and share daily experiences we all have in common – because we are all created by God.
The answer to my search for a time filling “job” or “position” has been here all along. It’s like I just closed my eyes, clicked my heels together and realized there is no place like home to provide the outlet that living for today can provide. Each day, each moment, each conversation is a way of expressing who we are. And, home is where-ever we are when in the presence of God.
Once in a movie I heard a line that went something like, “we as mankind are like a group of Aspen trees; we’re all linked by the same root system.” This is so true in that God created us in His image and we all have the same root system, God. Even those who don’t acknowledge God have the same beginnings, the same root system. We all experience the same feelings of love, hurt, concern, fear, insecurities… I could go on and on. We all have the same basic needs that can only be truly satisfied by the knowledge that we are created by God to be who we are, we can be confident that we are special. He loves us so much that he sent His son to die a horrific death on the cross for our sins. To deny Him after he has provided a way of ever lasting life through the sacrifice of His Son is to throw away the opportunity to bask in His glory for eternity.
I’ve gotten off the original subject yet in doing so I’m just barely touching on what I know to be the right way to fill my time; the thing I am to live for today; to advance Christ through sharing the situations we all face each day and show we are not alone; we have Christ on our side. We’re all in this together, rather we should be. Despite outside differences, we are actually basically all the same. We are all created to be ‘who we are in Christ.’ All our insecurities, fears, concerns, all our needs can be satisfied by the knowledge that we are exactly who He meant us to be.
How do I need to change the way I spend my time, energy, affections and resources? I need to realize that I, like everyone else, need to speak up for Christ. I need to spend my time, energy and resources to help do what I can to bring us all closer through the one tie that we all share; God. The best way I know to do this is to write and hope that those who read will find a connection with others through Gods love. A connection that pulls together not only those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior but a connection that reaches beyond and pulls on our heart strings to acknowledge and act on our shared need for Christ.
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