Sunday Sabbath July 17 2016  WHAT RULES YOUR TIME?

We had an excellent sermon today at church about THE DEMANDS OF TIME.  It was presented by a guest speaker named Brian White.  He began his message by talking about the kinds of idols people allow into their lives.  These “idols” are not statues or carvings that you worship, but rather the things to which we give our time.  He used as an example, the ubiquitous electronics we use, such as the smart phone.  That was just one example but it is the example I would like to expound upon. 

THE SMART PHONE.  I did not want one.  I did not buy one.  My little flip phone was all I needed because I did not use cell phone other than for an emergency.  Last year before I left on my long trip Dave wanted to be able to track my itinerary through our phone.  So Dave bought a new one and I took his old iPhone with me.  And wouldn’t you know it, about a month into the trip it died.  It was plumb dead!  I took it to the Apple store and believe it or not they could not restore it, fix it, or even restore my photos. 

At the time of the untimely death of my iPhone I later realized that God had it all worked out, especially the timing.  I wasn’t upset about losing the use of the phone, but sad to think that the thousand or so photos I had take on it during the first few weeks of my trip were lost forever.  I arrived at my next destination in Denver Colorado and wouldn’t you know it, my friend’s husband is a guru in the electronic world.  During the few days I was there he had somehow finagled his way into the depths of my phone, extracted all files, saved them somewhere in the sky (or wherever I Cloud lives), and I purchased a new phone.  Somehow he retrieved, backed up, stored, and then retrieved all my data and inserted it into my new phone.  It took days.  Way too complicated for me to understand, think about, or repeat.  The bad part was, I had now invested in a phone that cost more than some televisions, bought a two year contract just in case it was damaged, and for the first time, I felt like I should figure out how to use it more than for just a camera.  So I did.

The more I learned, the more I liked it.  The more I liked it, the bigger the mistake it was for me to own it.  I could take photos easily and quickly, email, text, listen to electronic books, listen to sermons, surf the web, ask Siri every question I could think of, and I had a GPS at my fingertips.  And the more I used it, the more I was drawn into reading lots and lots of interesting things that arrived every day without me even asking.  If I as much as googled a site, I was forevermore inundated with websites dealing with the topic I looked up.  And soon my time was being quietly stolen from me a few minutes more each day.  And when I look back, I realize I wasn’t nearly as addicted to the phone as others are.  I didn’t do face book or twits or twitters or whispers, or whatever else is out there in the cyber world.  I just enjoyed reading the news and about health, and about whatever else interested me.

I wondered, could this little contraption that fit into my pocket be an idol?  I felt as if God was opening my eyes to that very reality.  I tucked the phone away, kept it charged to take with me when I was away from the house, and pretty much quit using it.  Dave and I have agreed to not use the phone at our dining table as we eat breakfast lunch and dinner together most days.  By the time my insurance policy comes up for renewal I believe I will buy another little pocket phone, tuck it in my purse for emergency use, and be rid of the universal idol that our society seems to worship.  I will check my emails through my computer a few times a week and see when my books are due.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even have time to read them before their due date expires.

I have so much more to write about the sermon, but must close as it is already past my bedtime on my Sunday Sabbath.  Stop and take notice of that which demands your time and thus, may keep you from having time to set aside for God.  I notice when I am too busy to take time to be with my Savior, I need to stand back and examine what idols I have in my life. 

 

DEMANDS OF TIME

By Kathleen Martens

July 17, 2016

 

Who is in charge

Of my precious time?

Do I worship the clock

To find hours that are mine?

 

Do I make appointments

And race every where?

Am I constantly running

From here to there?

 

It seems the calendar

Dominates my plans

And I have no moments

With God to stand.

 

The calendar seems to chase me

From God’s presence,

And I lose the intimacy

Of His personal essence.

 

When do I pause

And make the shift

To return to God’s presence

To receive His gifts?

 

His gift of love

And internal peace,

Do I have any hours

In which to cease?

 

Only when I surrender

To my Holy King

Do I then receive

All the gifts He brings.

 

I must consecrate my time,

Throw my idols away,

So I am always aware

That it’s with God I stay.

 

With my calendar in God’s hands,

There’s time to seek His face,

And hours no longer demand

That through life I race.

 

Lord, thank You for opening my eyes to the idols I have allowed into my life.

Thank You God for never giving up on me.

And I thank You Jesus that You forgive me over and over again.

Thank You too Lord for helping me let go of so much of the baggage I have accumulated.

Thank You God for Your perfect peace.

Thank You God for Joy.

Thank You again for cherries.

 

GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS YOU