Take a moment and contemplate the course of your life. Don’t be too quick to move on from this point. Where have you come from? Where are you going? What are you doing? When you think about any given moment it seems insignificant. What is one second of your life worth? I squandered so much of my time in the past. I probably squander time today. The seconds tic by and I don’t even give it much thought.
Rebecca and I will be moving into another house in a couple of weeks (inshallah). For the past 8 months or so people have been going in and out working on it. I have been helping, not the skilled labor, but deconstruction, painting, and lately putting up curtain rods. The other day I was drilling into the plaster trying to find studs to mount the brackets. I must have drilled ten holes before giving up. It looked like someone had fired a shotgun into the wall. I had hoped to anchor the brackets into the wood, but had to settle for those little plastic anchors that come with the rods. They work as long as the curtains don’t weigh a ton.
We all need anchors in our lives, something, someone to keep us steady, to keep us from falling. Lord knows I need an anchor. Our moments slip away if we don’t have something real and tangible to make it all worthwhile. We look back at our lives with regret wishing we had spent more time with our kids, our spouses, and our friends. We were too busy building our little kingdoms to stop and enjoy the moments. I think that is why grandparents cherish their grandchildren so much. It is a second chance to appreciate what is important. I look into the eyes of my granddaughter and grandson with such delight.
Relationships are what are important. The ones we have and the new ones we build. That’s why the Apostle John talked so much about love; love one another, care for one another, serve one another, and pray for one another. Relationships aren’t as much about doing, as they are about being. Hanging out isn’t about accomplishing anything; it is about being with someone one just because. When the young do this they are lazy. When you get a little older you are unproductive. When you hit middle age you are coasting (a negative turn), and when you retire it’s the golden years. That’s right, all your life you work, sacrifice, labor, so that when you are old you can sit back and do nothing more than enjoy the fruit of your labor. Well, the elderly I know have said the golden years aren’t so golden. Maybe if we produced a little less, and enjoyed people a little more the golden years would be now.
All this is rooted in the greatest relationship we can have, Jesus. We want to produce for Jesus, develop programs, run events, build churches, and all he wants is for us to hang out with Him. Our relationship with Jesus is less about doing then it is about being. The Scripture says we are to walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit, and pray in the Spirit.
Just being, whether it is with people or with Jesus seems like a luxury to many. Jobs, home, children, and events keep us scurrying from one moment to the next. That is why we need an anchor that is solid. We need an anchor that will hold under the weight of life. We don’t want to settle for cheep anchors that will fall under the slightest strain. Jesus keeps us anchored to those things that are most important. If we will just hang out with Him, He will show us the way. I have so much to do today, but for right now, the sign on the door reads, “Come in, Jesus and I are just hanging out, join us.” I’m just saying…
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