Student Ministry - January
Dear Church Family,
Another year has already passed, and, if you’re like me, you probably feel like last year flew by while simultaneously creeping along. I don’t understand how time can work like that, but I do understand that every year we tend to look back and ask ourselves how we can make things better. We come up with “New Years Resolutions” of all kinds. Most often they are things like going to the gym more or being more disciplined in one area or another. We often think of things we can do that we hope will make our lives better. And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Many times we do need to make changes. Maybe we do need to eat better. Maybe we do need to study more. Maybe we do need to read more books. But have you ever thought that maybe instead of doing more we actually just need to do less?
Consider the possibility that the most effective improvement to our lives would come with proper prioritization of our time. Seriously, how much time do you spend doing things that wouldn’t even make your top ten priority list? Do you feel like your time is spent in proper proportion to what your top priorities are? The truth is, the use of our time will tell us what our priorities are. What if you were to sit down and write out the ten things you spend most of your time doing throughout the week in the order of how much time you spend on each thing. Do you think that list would reflect what you would want your priorities to be? Likely you will find that some things in your life take up more time than you would want them to. A non-negotiable would be something like work. That will certainly take more time than you want it to. Within that, however, I would hope that providing essentials for you and your family would be a fairly high priority. But what about the time that is solely at your discretion? We often feel like there are many things we “have” to do. But do we really? How often do we sacrifice truly important things for the sake of lesser joys?
How much time do we waste on more-or-less trivial matters when the true priorities of life are left unattended? The Bible actually has much to say about this topic. In Luke 10, Martha was very busy attending to things she thought was most important, while her sister sat at the feet of Jesus. When she complained to Jesus about it, He responded, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Similarly Psalm 127:2 tells us that “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” It seems to me that God desires for us to spend our time wisely on the most important things while trusting Him with the lesser matters. There is much more that could be said on this, but for sake of space, let me just encourage you to take an inventory of your priorities this year. Is God and His will for your life at the top of the list? Are you spending your time on things that aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things? What are some things you can do less? How can you arrange your time so that you aren’t busy with “anxious toil,” but are instead choosing the “good portion” and enjoying life more fully? I pray the Lord would fill you with rest and enable you to focus on those things in life which truly matter. Do less better, not more anxiously.
Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren
