In His Word, God tells us that He wants us to be wise so that we make good decisions and choices in life. In the great scheme of things, our stay on earth isn’t a long one. We don’t have the luxury of making a lot of mistakes or wasting time, because time is in short supply. My relatives tell me all the time that when they were much younger, it felt like they had all the time in the world. As a matter of fact, they said they foolishly wished that time would speed up and go faster. Many of us can relate to doing this when we were younger. We wanted Christmas to come sooner or maybe we didn’t get our way on something, and in a tantrum, we wished we could be older, so we could do whatever we wanted to do. As you get older, you want more time. It feels as though you never have enough of it. Life seems to speed up, and time flies. You begin to realize very quickly what a gift time is, and that making the most of it is an extremely worthy endeavor.
Ephesians 5:16 (NLT) tells us to be careful how we live and to be wise by “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” God calls on us to be imitators of Christ and to live and love others through Jesus Christ. This is how we maximize the time we’ve been given. John 14:6 tells us that Jesus Christ is life itself. He tells us in John 6:27 (NLT), “But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” Jesus warns us not to become so focused on perishable things that we forget to build our relationship with God through him. Building our relationship with God is where our fuel comes from. When we forget this, the pace of our lives loses momentum with our destinies in Christ.
In Luke 10, Jesus Christ visited Bethany, a village where two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived. They were very honored to have the company of Christ and the disciples traveling with him, and they welcomed them into their home. As he did so often, Jesus used every opportunity to teach the gospel, and did no less in the company of his friends, Martha and Mary. As he taught, Mary sat at his feet, but Martha busied herself with preparing a meal and taking care of domestic matters. No doubt Martha wanted to show honor to Christ by making everything in the home hospitable and nice, but in so doing, Martha missed a precious opportunity. She could not see the forest for the trees.
This is how it is with us. We live at such a frenzied pace that everything seems direly important. We spread ourselves thin with details that consume our time and leave us depleted. We place ourselves in service to these pursuits and we don’t consider what they are costing us. Jesus Christ reminds us in Luke 14:28 to always count the costs. This means we have to take the time to weigh things out, because if we are not making time for God, we’re not using our time wisely.
Luke 10:40(NLT) tells us that Martha got caught up and distracted by the big meal she was preparing. She said to Jesus, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” Mary had been listening to Jesus teach, and Martha became upset that she was doing all the work. It hadn’t occurred to her to stop what she was doing. She focused on the perishable thing rather than the thing that was most important in that moment. She couldn’t see that what Jesus was preparing and laying before those he taught was the incomparable bread of life; it is the rarest and most valuable treasure of all. Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:41-42(NLT), “41 My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Nothing in life is more important than growing in Christ and building our relationship with God through him. Honoring God is how we take time to smell the roses and savor the aroma of all He created life to be. Our bodies are made from dust. They will not last forever, but if we have made Jesus Christ our personal Lord and Savior, we have received the gift of eternal life, and our spirits will live forever. We know confidently that the Lord loves us, and this earth experience provides us with the only opportunity to prove that we truly love Him. Let’s stop focusing on the small things and concentrate on the big picture of God’s love. It will help us maximize this earth existence, so we live long, strong, and bountifully in Christ.■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.“Take Time to Smell the Roses” by JMack. 4theChristianMan.Com© 2018. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.