Before my summer break from the office, my life consisted of eight hour work-days, squeezing in time to meet with friends, make personal calls and errands. At night I would quickly straighten up our apartment if there was time, make dinner and usually had some evening event be it a Bible study, meeting with church or planned event. Days seemed short and not much time passed before I was heading to bed so I could do it all again the next day. In stark contrast, with the office closed for the next three months, I now find myself enjoying being home. I have uninterrupted time to read and pray. I can go for walks, have long lunches with friends and get things done around the house. Each summer day seems to be at my disposal. We have some plans that will take up a few of the weeks, but all in all I have a number of days with no strict plans or to-do lists. Though it is nice to have relaxing days of leisure I also don’t want to waste a single one of them.

Many Christians are easily swept away in the whirlwind of busyness that surrounds life and this world. Jobs, family, the children’s activities, church involvement, friends, renovating the house, getting married, friends, school, projects and dreams. These things so quickly fill our plate that when it comes to the Lord and obedience to Him we are simply too busy for it. We seem to be terribly preoccupied with life and all of its happenings so much so that there is little if any time to study, pray or fellowship together. We think that we can get by with just trying our best to be spiritual. We attend church on Sunday and Wednesday. Not taking God as seriously as we should. We don’t study the Word. We don’t pray. All the while we hope that God understands that our lives are hectic and that we mean well, but just don’t have time for Him. In the end we are too wrapped up in the buzz of our own life to surrender to Him.

Sometimes in our good intentions, we get caught up in the busyness of Christian things. We don’t want to seem worldly or be accused of not doing enough for the Lord so we attempt to do it all. People like this are on are on every committee the church offers. When there is a new program, they are on board. They attend multiple Bible studies, help out in the nursery, teach a Sunday school class and participate in the praise band. It doesn’t stop here. They always wonder if there is more they could be doing for the Lord. They want to do all they can for Him. So they join the witnessing team on Friday nights and the landscape crew on Saturday mornings…and keep looking for more. They want to be found busy with the Lord’s work.

I have been guilty of both these extremes–too busy to even have time for God and too busy trying to do everything to serve Him. I have learned that neither is the right perspective. It isn’t about what I’m doing or not doing, it is about my heart. We don’t know how much time God has allotted for us on this earth so we must use it wisely. The temptation is to use it wisely in the ways of the world by accruing as much wealth as possible, giving ourselves to the pursuit of travel, education, expertise or experience. Nothing is wrong with any of these things, but they are not to be our focus. There is also a temptation to think that since we are heaven bound that we are free from all responsibility on earth. Falling into idle living, neglecting the obedience to which we are called. We need to avoid these extremes and learn that it is all about the heart.

I fear that much of the time we honor God with just our words and our actions. We go through the motions and traditions, but really our hearts may be far from Him. (Matthew 15:8) This has been an epidemic among God’s people for centuries. The prophet Haggai spoke to the people so they might not be busy with their own homes but dedicated to the Lord.