04-21-08 A Heart for Living!
Have you noticed that life often feels like you are running on a hamster’s wheel … lots of motion with very little meaning? We all seem to be caught up in the fast lane. Time is consumed at the “fast food window” or buried under our work. There seems to be little time for sleep and rest, let alone time to connect with God, family and others. Where is our heart for living?
It seems our sophisticated “high tech” society has squeezed the living out of life! We’ve lost our heart for living. We don’t have time to soak in life, make good and lasting relationships and above all others, develop a God-ward life! Randy Frazee in his book entitled, “Making Room For Life” said it this way: “…..our busy lifestyles stimulate a toxic disease called crowded loneliness..” He went on to say, “…in our original design we were created with a connection requirement and if this requirement is not met we will die…”
Most of us live under the assumption that the more financial resources we have, the more likely we would be to live a stress-free life. In reality, though, studies have shown that increased resources bring increased complexity, not simplicity.
We need to develop a heart for the things of God and bring our lives into a proper balance. That does not mean spend eight hours at work and then bring another four hours of work home with you! I once read an insightful story that goes something like this:
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Night after night a man came home to his family with his briefcase full of work. One evening his little son turned to his mom as his dad walked in with an overstuffed briefcase in his hand.
"Why does Daddy always have work to do when he gets home?" he asked.
His mom replied, "Because Daddy can’t get it all done at the office."
The boy innocently quipped back, "Why don’t they put Daddy in the slower class?”
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This, while sounding cute, may very well fit the lifestyle of many of us today. Getting a heart for living is a must! Spending time with God and His Word will facilitate our growth and development as a believer. God will indeed give us a heart for living!
“…ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart…” (Jeremiah 29:13)
Maybe we should take some time today to do some serious “soul searching” and “heart seeking” that will bring the refreshing presence of God into our lives.
In the context of Jeremiah 29 the prophet addresses the reality of Israel’s Babylonian captivity. God never casts off His people although He does at times deal with them in a severe manner. Such is the case with the captivity that Jeremiah is describing. The good news of the context is verse 14 wherein God gives His promise:
“….and I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive….”
The principles derived are rather obvious.
- God has a plan for you. Don’t get detoured from it.
- Detours are costly delays. So don’t get detoured.
- Delays bring frustration and lack of focus; therefore, don’t get delayed.
- Lack of focus creates frustration. So don’t lose focus.
- Frustration causes you to “lose heart”; therefore don’t get frustrated and lose heart!
- Develop a Heart for Living!
- Read God’s Word!
- Pray!
- Live for God publically and privately!
- Accomplish His will to the best of your ability!
Blessings, Pastor Sears
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