by Bruce Brady
So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like
those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these
evil days. Ephesians 5:15-16
Those of us who are business minded will read these verses
and focus on seizing every income producing opportunity. And there’s nothing
wrong with that, if we keep our focus on God. However, many of us will ignore
the spiritual opportunities and only see the promised earthly rewards.
Now I’m not going to tell you that everything on earth is
evil. In fact, things are neutral, neither good nor evil. Things are just
things. They’re only evil if we allow them to steal our focus. To me, the
greatest danger of things is in the accumulation of them. The more we own, the
more time we have to spend maintaining them. They are great robbers of time.
I love stories that teach or make me feel good and gadgets that
make life easier. I’ve accumulated a lot of books, DVDs and various “time-saving”
widgets. Now I’m faced with what to do with my things.
I’ve spent countless hours working to get them, accumulating
them, using them, cleaning them, storing them, rearranging them. Once again I
find myself planning the best way to store and organize them, and deciding what
to keep and what to give away. Wondering if I really need them, the Spirit gave
me a glimpse of how much more time I’ll spend on these things in the future.
Then the Holy Spirit showed me the real problem. Every
minute I spend in thought and action with regards to my things, I’m robbing
myself of time with God. Time that could be so much more valuable to me. That’s
when I realized that the time spent on the maintenance of things is one of
Satan’s greatest tools. The Devil loves it when I’m focused on my “stuff.” And
he uses this tool with great subtlety.
So, I’ve decided a major cleaning out is in order. I know it’ll
take more of my time but I’ll realize a great time savings in the future, time
I can spend with my Creator. And time spent with our Creator is always time
well spent.
If you find yourself dealing with a lot of stuff, physical
or emotional, it’s time for a “deep cleaning.” Give away anything you haven’t
used in a while and give all your mental stuff to God who’ll deal with it much
more efficiently. Then, you can seize the opportunity to spend time with the Lord and enjoy the peace and comfort that comes with
relaxing in His love.
