I first heard the term “burning
daylight” in the movie “The Cowboy's” with John Wayne. I
understood what it meant then and I do now, however I now see the
concept of “wasting time” in a new spectrum.
So much is happening today, it is easy
to get distracted. Recently I wasted far too much time and effort
writing an answer to some idiot in Massachusetts who wants to ban all
semiautomatic firearms using a recent shooting in Virginia Beach, VA
as an excuse. No, I will not reference these things in more detail
because it is all a total waste of time. THAT is my point!
At this writing there is so much static
in the air it is almost to thick to cut, much less see or hear
through. The “Russian thing” hovers still. Meanwhile China,
Russia, Iran and who knows who else is on the table for war. Our
borders are a joke. Our elections are laughable. If that is not
enough, every day brings a new “crisis” to light. None of this is
worth a second – or even a first thought. What is worthy of your
time?
God.
Quite likely I just lost most of my
audience. Some day they will wish they'd stuck around.
If you are still here good. Whether you
need affirmation or are seeking something to set you above the fray –
my prayer is the next few paragraphs will satisfy your hunger.
The short
video linked here demonstrates zooming out from a point on earth
to space.
Think of the starting point as all the
things on your mind these days. As the entire earth comes into view –
think of this as part – just part – of God's point of view. It is
so easy for each of us to get wrapped up in our own little dramas but
these pale in comparison to the big picture. Every story – EVERY
story you see on the news, on the internet, at home, at the office is
somebody's little drama. When we get zoned into one of these, we lose
the big picture. So what's the big picture?
Eternity.
You may have realized I am getting on
in years. While I'm not at “retirement age”, I can see it on the
horizon. Much of my life on this earth is past. As it has been over
two thousand years since my Lord Jesus the Messiah walked this earth,
many lives lived here since then have passed. Yet in light of
eternity – all of our lives combined are nothing. Eternity is that
big. How do our little dramas compare? Hardly a droplet.
In light of all of this I've asked
myself how can I make the best of the rest of my time on this earth?
Certainly not working to ensure candidate X wins the next election.
Saving the planet? Please. No, the best use of my remaining time here
would be to offer as many people as I can the opportunity to gain
eternal life. However even this “goal” is far too ambitious. The
fact of the matter is – I need not offer anything to anybody.
Here's the deal:
What you believe or do not believe is
entirely up to you. It is not my nor anyone's “job” to daunt you,
haunt you or persuade you to believe otherwise. It's just not. All I
can do is hold forth – tell – the truth as I see and understand
it. I'll be the first to admit I don't have it all down pat. After
over forty years of learning and studying, I still learn something
new every single day. What I can say is I've gained a perspective
unique to me. This in and of itself is nothing special either. You
could say the same thing about yourself or anybody for that matter.
So... judge for yourself. Do my words have a ring of truth to them?
Do I sometimes make sense?
As for myself, I have no idea how
effective I can or will be. All I can do is resolve to open up –
write and speak what I know and pray that what I say is blessed by my
Heavenly Father. Without Him, I am nothing. I have nothing. I am
worth less than nothing. Recently, I read something that brought
clarity to a lot of things.
It was an old book about a man who
bought a farm and began working it after reading and dreaming about
it for years. His studies convinced him anyone could learn to grow
things. In part, his theory was based on something we all know, but
few of us give much thought to: a single seed will produce a
significant amount of fruit – or grain or nuts, the principle is
the same – we will call it all “fruit”.
Now I have a “brown thumb” as I
cannot grow much of anything, but I can grow tomatoes and peppers
with some regularity. My own issue is not so much as I am ignorant
but I have difficulty paying attention to my plants. I get distracted
easily and, by the time I turn back to them, they are lost. Thus, my
failures are not the plant's fault but my own. Getting back to the
main idea here, this principle of bearing fruit was laid out by Jesus
in a parable:
Matthew 13:3 And
he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower
went forth to sow;
4 And when he
sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and
devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon
stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they
sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun
was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away.
7 And some fell
among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell
into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some
sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to
hear, let him hear.
Notice the sower did not take great
care with his sowing. He just tossed the seeds out there and some of
them grew! Seriously, I can relate to this sower's style. He paid no
attention to the quality of the ground. Apparently he didn't prepare
it in any way. No mention was made of the quality of the seed itself.
I doubt if farmers in that day gave it much thought. Nor was anything
said about caring for the plants when the began to grow. Nothing is
said about watering, nor about weeding. The fact that thorns choked
some suggests no weeding was done. With all that some of that seed
bore fruit! Back to my own example, even some of the plants I have
tried to grow, while nearly dying from neglect, managed to grow some
fruit.
So here I am, sowing what seed I can.
Though I promise my “seed” is carefully selected so it is the
best I can offer, I cannot guarantee perfection.
1 Corinthians 3:7
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that
watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that
planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive
his own reward according to his own labour.
Yet another reference to planting. In
these verses a distinction is made between one who plants – not
sows – and one who waters. However it is God who gives the increase
in both cases. The “increase” is, of course, the fruit.
All of this is to say, I am resolved to
ignore the little dramas presented to me every day. None of it is
worth what little time I have left on this earth. Mind you, even if
I've only lived half my life thus far – that half has gone far too
fast. My desire is to make the most of whatever I have left to spend
whether it be one hour or one hundred years.
This does not mean I plan on turning
into one of those “in-your-face” relentless Christians. For one
thing I do not think that is necessary, but most of all – it's not
me. If my understanding of scripture is any indication, I can think
of two figures in particular – Paul and Apollos. My sense is
Apollos was a bold man – a “supersalesman” in a sense. It
certainly takes a lot of strength of character to learn of the
baptism of the Messiah and go forth spreading the word. On other
other hand, I see Paul as more of an opportunist. He would follow
procedures and seek out proper places to teach. Apollos would preach
from a street corner whereas Paul would seek invite to the local
synagogue. As for myself, while I have no problem speaking to groups,
my own preference is via the written word or one on one.
In closing, I urge each one of you who
has stayed with me this far to take stock. How are you “burning
daylight”? This is not to say you need to spend every moment of
your life speaking God's Word to someone. God gave us lives to enjoy
His creation. By all means enjoy it. Meanwhile, consider all the
little dramas that snare you every day. Are they worth your time? Are
they worth your effort? If not, walk away. Praise God instead.
