Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 16, Jeremiah 20, Romans 5-6
Romans 6: 16 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?"
My husband and I were laughing today about how easy it can be to waste time. When I was gone with the kids to our trip to Oregon, he had many nights off from work without his lovely wife to fellowship with, or two busy kids vying for his attention. He told me one night, without even realizing it, he stayed up until midnight wasting time on Ebay. Once he snapped out of his Ebay hypnosis, he reflected on how he spent his time and immediately repented and asked God to forgive him. I laughed at him, knowing exactly how that feels as I have been guilty many times before.
Was my husband sinning by looking on Ebay? No. Am I sinning by watching too much reality TV this week? Not necessarily. It is a "sin" to spend our time doing one thing rather than the best thing? Not necessarily. However, the question we should be asking is: Is it righteous? Righteousness in the Greek is "Dikaiosune" - a state of him who is as he ought to be. Are we being fruitful? Are we using the time we have been given to pursue God’s best? Are we a slave to sin, righteousness or are we just flat out lukewarm? Are we as we ought to be? To say that our Christian faith is about who can avoid the most sin is missing the mark. It is not about avoiding being a slave to sin, it is about experiencing the abundance God has for us in a life of sold-out righteousness.
As I was reading the always-convicting book of Romans today, I realized that we have a decision to make. If we so choose to be a slave to righteousness, that means that we have to walk in complete obedience (even when we don't feel like it). Does a slave get a decision on what to do with his time? No...he just does what his master tells him to do when he tells him to do it. I’m not saying we have to pray about whether or not we should go the bathroom, but we should begin to recognize that just as our money is not our own, our time is also not our own. God has blessed us with a certain amount of time on this earth to accomplish the wonderful things he has planned for us. One of my favorite quotes is "Live with the pain of self-discipline, not the pain of self-regret." -Hans Florine
Praying is not always convenient, and sometimes doesn’t always sound like the most exciting thing I could do first thing in the morning. However, I don’t want to look back on my days and regret that I didn’t press in to God enough or spend time becoming the woman of God he has called me to be. I began to reflect on this life of shackles and chains, I realize that the more bound I am the more free I am! The more He tightens the reigns up in an area of my life, the more freedom I experience in my soul! Whether it is pruning some things out of your life, or readjusting the way you spend your time, the master always knows best and His plan is to give you life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
The reason you are slave to righteousness is because you are royalty to God. With royalty comes responsibility. As a Christ-follower you are responsible to set the example, lead the way and fulfill those dreams that God has put in your heart...and unless a part of your dream involves an Ebay business, it probably won’t help by spending your time trying to become the highest bidder. The question today is not are you a slave to sin, the question is are you as you ought to be?
Thank you for Reading and Responding,
Melissa Miller
Post a Comment! Questions for reflection and response:
1. What do you think it means to be as we ought to be? How does that relate to the way we choose to spend our time?
2. What are some dreams God has put in your heart? Is there anything you could do with your time now that would help you prepare for that dream?
Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Samuel 17, Jeremiah 21, Romans 7-8
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
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1 comment:
How interesting I was working on my time management yesterday!
I wrote about it too... Most times we get caught up doing what is urgent and forget what is important. Praying is important, but sometimes not necessarily urgent, that's why we see that people call on God a lot more when they need an immediate answer, their time is spent doing urgent things otherwise.
The most interesting thing about doing urgent things instead of important is that most important things affect our future, our dreams. Sure getting to those emails is urgent, but it shouldn't get done until the important things have been taken care of.
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