Time Spent

If you were to ask most people; what is the most valuable thing they can offer? My guess is that the answer you would get would be Time. Why is time so valuable? Time is so valuable to man that we created a way to keep up with how much time there is in a day. This is yet another way for us to keep up with how valuable this unseen commodity is to us. Again though I bet if you asked a group of people, how much free time do you have? My guess again would be not a single one would have time to spare. We spend time faster than we spend money. There is no saving up of time, as a matter of fact we invent things like time management just so we can try and save a little bit of time. In the end though we still do not have any time left over. Then what do we do? We look towards time when we think we will have time, like days off or we might even take a vacation because we think we can have more time. The truth is no matter what we do to try and add more time to our lives and our days it is always going to come up short. Another truth is that we try and justify all this time we use up by saying things like, I am working towards a better future so I work late, long hours, I want my kids to have a full life so we have them involved in recreational activities or we say when I get to where I want to be financially and the kids get a little older I will have more time for other things. The truth sadly those days never come and you wake up and life has passed you by and those around you are always to busy to have any time for you either. I do not think that we were to ever measure time as minutely as we do today. I think James says it well "13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”(James 4:13-15). It is good we work for all this time and put effort out to makes better lives financially for our loved ones, but we are only here for such a small amount of time. If we turn our focus on God, I am betting that those late hours and the things we fill our days up with will seem so unimportant and those that are waiting on us will be much happier in life because you were there. What legacy will you leave behind to the ones that look up to and love you?

Vacation

Today is the first day of my two week vacation. I am very excited for the time off and the rest that hopefully I will experience. I think that we can all say that we look forward to vacation time. Whether we are going somewhere or just staying at home, there is always excitement leading up to the days of vacation. There is another type of vacation that we can experience each and every day. This vacation comes with the promise that our savior offers us; 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”(Matthew 11:28-30). Most of the time this is the exact reason that we take a vacation we are tired, stressed and wore out from life itself. Even though a vacation or two a year is very nice and lots of fun, is it not wonderful to know that the stresses of everyday, the exhaustion of the long work week and the weariness that it brings can be lifted from us in just a moment. All we have to do is come to Him. When was the last time you took a vacation in the savior’s arms?

The gift of life

Today there should be a new life in our family. My brother and his girlfriend are having a baby today. It is in times like these that we get to experience one of the greatest miracles that God has to offer us. There are few things as amazing as a new born baby, they even smell new. Their skin is delicate and soft their eyes and ears cannot see or hear very. In truth they have to be cared for in everything, left alone they would not survive. Much the same as the new life that is given to us through Christ. When we are born again through Christ we are a new creation and we have much the same lack of abilities as a new born baby. We do not understand the new world around us, our eyes have been opened but they are weak and new and we do not know how to take care of ourselves. The only thing we know is that we need nutrients and we must depend on others to help us get that nutrient. As we get a little older in our Christian life we start to venture out on our own at times and often we forget where we receive the nutrients that we need. As most children do we learn to venture out on our own and while this is good to a degree we never need to forget who and what feeds us. Keep your eye on Christ and you will have all the strength you need.

The Dark

There are many nights when I hear the infamous cry of my daughter. She wakes up crying scared and alone, a pretty scary place to be. Think about the dark for a minute, the dark is cold, it secludes you, and it is well dark you cannot see and you get that feeling of being lost. This is scary even to an adult, it is also easy for me to remember when I was a child and I would wake up in the dark of night and be scared. I would begin to call for my Dad and would usually continue until he or my mother would arrive. Just the same way my daughter does when I arrive, she stops cry and wraps her arms around me and holds on tight. At the very minute that I pick her up she knows that she is safe and no harm can come to her. Although there is no real danger in our home the dark and the noises of the silence keep a young child's imagination running. However there are many of us adults that are wondering around in the dark afraid and very alone. We are screaming and searching but we are not able to see any light near or far, we are lost. We find something that gives us a minute of security but soon find out that it is a false security and once again we are scared and searching. We as Christians do this often search for things to fill us and make us feel better. Sometimes we even hurt others in our search for our light and happiness. How often we forget that God sent a light into the world. All we have to do is call out Daddy and he comes for us. He lifts us up in his arms and holds us tight, wipes away all our tears and calms our fears. The world is a dark and lonely place but it does not have to be all we have to do is call out His name and the light will shine. ^12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,  "I am the light of the world. He who ^jfollows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."(John 8:12)

Random Acts

I find it amazing when someone does something kind and unexpected that we are in awe. You know what I mean, for example when someone lets you go in front of them at the grocery store or someone does something that is in your favor but might have been a lose for them. We always sit back and think to ourselves, wow that was very kind of them. How many times have you been the recipient of one of the acts of kindness? Better yet how often are you the one performing the act of kindness? The best thing about these random acts is that when they are done no one is trying to brag about what they did for someone. The person who received the act usually goes away amazed that someone did something so kind, but the real blessing comes to the person who did it with a humble heart. When was the last time you performed an act of kindness? It does not matter what is going on in your life right now, I promise if you perform an act of kindness for someone and do it with a humble heart the blessing you will receive in return will overfill your heart with joy. We should not be amazed when someone does one of the acts this should be the norm. If everyone would do just one act of kindness our world would change, and that one random act begins with you.

Unexpected Love

There are times in life when we all experience an overpowering of love. This comes in many forms and in many ways. Sometimes it comes as a gift other times it comes as a touch or a phone call. They also seem to be awe moments in life. For instance, take something simple like a grand view of snow topped mountains or those miles of green fields with the coming of the morning sun causing the dew to glisten. You think to yourself wow; that is so beautiful. You want to know something better? It was made just for you! God painted the skies, the land and even the little spots on the lady bug just for you to enjoy and to see you smile. He spent all that time creating to show you how much he loves you. Unexpected; that is the very thing God specializes in when showing His love. Think for a moment about the point in time that God decided to show the world how much He loved them all. The world was in dire need of God's love. Israel was hurting and suffering, Rome was expanding their empire and tyranny, and a king so feared the loss of his throne to a new king that he had babies killed. The world was hurting and God was saying I love you and let me show you how much I do love the world. The gift; a child born wrapped in death clothes and put in a feeding troth, here the King of the Universe here on Earth. The problem with all this love God was giving? Much the same as it is today, just as many on that divine night missed the birth announcement that had been made years before and was written in the heavens, so we miss the love God has for us. I am not just talking about missing Jesus, although that is a great loss if you do miss the savior. I am talking about missing God's love. He shows this to you every day as all of creation announces his divine glory. However there are moments when he reaches out a touches you with His love and in that moment it is all for you. Has life become too much for you to bear? Get ready because God is about to show you His love and it is all just for you. Jesus tells us just how much God loves us here in this verse, Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? (Luke 12:24).

 

Hello

To everyone who reads my blog. I am sorry I have been out the last several days. I was very sick for a while and my internet has been out the last few days. I will be returning with new post tomorrow. Please continue to check here each day.