I remember back in the days of only three channels on television, this same Winnie the Pooh came on for several years as a “Special Program”. It came on about the same time each year and I always looked forward to it. There was no such thing as a VCR, so if you were going to watch something, you had to wait on it to make its annual appearance.
The same thing was true of several other shows. Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Ten Commandments, and of course all of the Christmas and other holiday shows all came on television regularly and you actually waited for them to air.
There was something magical about those nights when you finally got to see that one show you had looked forward to all year. Sometimes the wait was hard, but it was always worth it.
Somewhere along the way, we became a world of convenience. Jiffy Pop gave in to Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn; going to the movies gave in to renting the latest feature and watching it in bed; going to the bank gave in to the ATM and online banking; the Sears catalog gave in to internet shopping, and the evening supper gave in to the drive-thru. We just can’t seem to tolerate waiting for anything anymore.
One of the biggest problems with this is when we try to apply it to our Christian walk. We want instant answers and instant results from God. When God doesn’t answer our prayers right away we tend to do one of two things. Either we begin to doubt His involvement in our lives or even His very existence, or we try to fix things ourselves. Either way we are on the road to failure.
But what do we expect when we do not give God our time that seems to be so precious to us. We seem to find the time to spend hours per week at football games, dance recitals, the lake, the woods, the gym, or the party down the street. However, we just can’t seem to squeeze a few minutes each day to read God’s word and speak with Him.
We think that we can just cruise all week and not even give God a second thought and it will all be OK on Sunday. Sunday morning worship has become a Christian drive-thru where we get just enough to get us through until the next week. However, we are getting no real nutrition because we are not feeding from the bread of life. We are not drinking from the living water that Jesus promised would make us never thirst again. We believe we just don’t have time to fill our hearts and souls with the spiritual nourishment that He so longs to give us, so we run by church for a quick fix.
If you think you are short on time, you are correct. All of you who are reading this are running out of time. You are running out of time to tell someone you love them, to forgive those who have wronged you, to spend a few precious moments with your children or to see a sunset. But most of all, you are running out of time to serve the One who gave His life so that you could live, and to share that good news with others.
Make the commitment today to spend more quality time with God this week. It will make His week to hear from you, and just might make your eternity.
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their
lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five
were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a
long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. "At
midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' "Then
all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the
wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' " 'No,' they replied,
'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil
and buy some for yourselves.' "But while they were on their way to buy the oil,
the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the
wedding banquet. And the door was shut. "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!'
they said. 'Open the door for us!' "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I
don't know you.' "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the
hour. (Matthew 25:1-13)
He who testifies to these things says,
“Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)
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