A Holiday (Cautionary) Tale
Sometimes I remember a Bible verse out of context, not contradictory to God’s word, but relating to my life in an unintended way. 2 Timothy 4.6 begins with these six words, “For I am already being poured out…” Today, maybe you’re also thinking, “I’m not sure we can do everything that needs to be done before Christmas!”
From Halloween to New Year’s Eve, let’s count the different ways you and your family might be stretched too far:
- A busy school calendar, including music concerts and special event days at school and scheduled non-school days.
- Maybe you’ve got family who live outside Wichita and you’re trying to visit them or you’ve invited them to visit you.
- If you’re hosting one or more holiday meals, the house has to be cleaned before anyone can visit.
- Northside offers many service opportunities during these weeks of the year.
- If you have young children, you’re trying to make special memories, either with grandparents (and maybe great-grandparents) or with the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving or Christmas.
- If you have older children, you’re trying to coordinate their schedules with the pressing family schedule.
- Whatever your life-stage, this is a busy time of year.
Each opportunity has wonderful potential to be a blessing, but there is also a temptation. None of us can do everything that could be done in any single day. We intend to offer ourselves and our time as part of our daily worship to God, but if we pour ourselves out, past the point of good health and good sense, we run the risk of losing perspective. We can become too busy to be blessed.
This challenge is not new, and it is not just a seasonal challenge. In Mark 6, we read the following in short order: Jesus is rejected in His home town, then He sends out the 12 apostles, John the Baptist is beheaded (and Jesus learns of it), the apostles return to Jesus with their reports, and He notices that everyone needs some down time (v30-32). Then Jesus feeds five thousand because He has compassion for them. Mark 6.45-46: “Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after He had taken leave of them, He went up on the mountain to pray.” Later than night, He walked on water!
In this busy time of year, you probably can’t escape to a mountain for private prayer, but let’s all take the time needed to keep our eyes looking to Heaven.