It was almost a month ago now that my pastor preached a sermon entitled “A Theology of Time from the Life of Christ”.
I listened, I was convicted, I couldn’t figure out what I needed to do. I was busy. How was I going to put this into practice?
At that time, I was reading James in my personal devotions and the part in chapter 1 about the man who looks at his face in the mirror and then forgets what he looks like was stamped on my brain.
I mentioned something from the sermon to Lisa, she invited me to share more from the sermon with her. I was eager for the additional motivation to take another hard look at my face in the mirror–and this time to remember what my face looked like.
So I’ve been slowly revisiting Justin’s six points.
Point 2: Fight to be alone with God
Jesus did. He regularly got up early in the morning to find a secluded place to pray. Even when the demands on His time were great, His need to be away with His Father was greater. (Mark 1:35-36; Luke 5:15-16)
Justin used the illustration of flying on an airplane with a child. If the air pressure inside the plane drops and the oxygen masks are needed, parents need to put their masks on first. Why? Because they can’t help if they’re dead.
In the same way, we need to be in communion with God. If not, the rest of our busy lives will be unfruitful–because we’re living them out dead.
Fight. That’s the word Justin used. Fight to be alone with God.
Struggle. Work at. Push towards.
Fight to be alone with God.
I fight for things I love, for things I consider important.
I fight for time to blog, coming home for lunch if I know I won’t have time to prepare a post some other time.
I fight for time to read, taking a book with me to the bathroom, into bed, with me as I fold laundry.
I fight for my evening baths, giving up sleep to make sure I get them.
But do I fight to be alone with God?
I’m choosing to. I’m choosing to make time alone with God a priority. I’m choosing to make the time to be alone.
I want to be like Martin Luther, who said he prayed an hour each day, except on particularly busy days. On those days he prayed two hours.
Even more than that, I want to be like Christ.
And if He fought to be alone with His Father, than I want to fight to be alone with the Father as well.
If you’d like to listen to Pastor Justin’s excellent sermon “A Theology of Time from the Life of Christ”, you can find the mp3 at Highland Park’s Worship Service Archive. It’s “A Theology of Time” dated 7/31/11.
Ouch and oh me. I’ll try to give your good pastor’s sermon a listen (when I have time ;-). ).
Thanks Rebekah! I need this :)
yes, though I start with good intentions and strive to do what my heart longs to do, my body (exhausted from all the busy!) caves! But! You have inspired me to keep on keepin’ on. Thanks Rebekah!
I finished listening to his sermon this morning. And I highly recommend it to everyone else! I copied down his 6 points so I can go back to them again myself and think more about them.
This #2 point is excellent. I think I let my alone-time with God slip sometimes because…well, aren’t these others things I’m doing for God too?…yes, but I *still* need my alone time with him. I need to be more guarded about it…
I so appreciate you, Rebekah!
Very convicting post. I am having to rethink how I spend my time these days. (I started by harshly going through my Google Reader, as you did a few months ago, and cutting things down to a reasonably length to ensure I read post like things that convict me to do more. =P)
I don’t FIGHT to spend time alone with God. I don’t really use my time wisely in any way these days and it’s causing some personal angst and a feeling of a chaos. But if I do make that a priority – and if I do fight for it – I imagine the chaos will settle and I’ll trade chaos in for beauty. Which would be nice.