How will you Spend your Time this Year?

Last year, I found a testimony on Youtube of a man about my age whose pancreatic cancer had returned after 3 years in remission. I signed up to follow his medical/personal updates on CaringBridge, curious to see how his imminent passing had changed his priorities. But, sadly, he only spoke of his leisure activities, hobbies, and travel—a stark reminder to me of how much people hold on to the things of earth, even as they approach their final days. The Spirit brought to my mind these words: “Number our days [realize the brevity of life]” (Ps. 90:12) so we can “make the most of our time [opportunities]” (Eph. 5:16).

In his book “Nearing Home,” Billy Graham wrote, “God doesn't want us to waste our latter years or spend them in superficial, meaningless pursuits. Instead, He wants us to use them in whatever ways we can to influence those who will come after us. God wants us to finish well.” That has certainly been my and Altha’s intent.  But you don’t have to be in your latter years, or facing death, to pursue God with all of your heart. Spending your time on spiritual pursuits has no age limit. Consider Isaiah’s metaphor: “Why do you spend money [time] for what is not bread [life], and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (55:2)

Do You Have a Plan for Overcoming Temptation?

Do you know what were Jesus’ last words to His disciples (in the Garden of Gethsemane)? Keep alert and pray; otherwise temptation will overpower you (Matt. 26:41 NLT)—and not just for that moment: Jesus was warning them to live proactively. Not unlike the famous adage “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

Another truism is that as we grow in faith in Christ, our temptations increase (and they come with bigger consequences)—being IN Christ does not make us immune to sin’s attraction. Paul offered Timothy three ways to plan for temptation: Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22).

First, flee from temptation. The best defense against temptation is get away from it—not to linger there and see how strong we are! Second, get into Jesus. As long as Timothy was pouring his energies into pursuing godliness, he'd be less tempted to sin. Third, spend time with serious disciples of Jesus. It's far easier to resist temptation when we're surrounded by Christians who encourage us. The hard truth is that temptation will be a lifelong reality. And the crucial question is: Do I have a plan for overcoming it?

Run!—Don’t Walk!

One of my treasured friends refers to me as his running partner. No, I don’t jog with him; nor have we ever done a marathon together. But we do consider ourselves to be running a race together—“let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us” (Heb. 12:1).

Paul tells Timothy to “run away from evil things” and “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11, NLT, NASB). The Hebrew word for “pursue” means “to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after.” If you’ve been “walking” with Jesus for any length of time, you’ve learned that acquiring these qualities is no ‘stroll in the park.’ To succeed in these qualities, you have to be a runner—running toward them while you run away from their opposite.

Is God allowing you to go through hard times? Then now is a great time to pursue endurance! Don't quit. Don't give up hope. Endurance is essential if you are going to run, and finish, the race He has assigned you. And what about pursuing love? Has God joined you in some way with a person who's very hard to love? Are you tempted to run away? Don’t. Rather, run to God in prayer—ask to love that person as God does. Who said it would be easy? Does anyone really think Christian character just walks into your life one day?

Aggressive Christianity

In his letters to Timothy (1 Tim: 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22), Paul entreats him to run from evil things and youthful lusts and pursue righteousness and a godly life. Since the word “pursue” can be translated “run,” the admonition could read “run away from sin and run to God.” These are words of action, even aggression.

Paul is saying "run away from temptation as fast as you can." But I am afraid too many Christians are not this aggressive against sinful temptations. Too many Christians are more cavalier—playing with temptation, they think, “How close can I get without actually sinning?” They do not realize, by asking the question, they have already sinned!

Imploring him to run to righteousness, Paul is not simply telling Timothy to think about these godly things or just long for these things. No, he tells him to get up and go after them aggressively. Paul’s admonition to Timothy is no less ours today. We must go after God with everything that is in us. We must pursue Him aggressively.

Time for some soul-searching here… do you make time to pray, read, study and meditate on His word? Are you so desperate to please Him that you will do whatever it takes even if it means spending less time watching TV, reading books or hanging out with friends? Are you too easily satisfied with your church's Sunday morning morsels? In other words, are you aggressive in your personal pursuit of God? Aggressive pursuit of God will bring a radical change to your life. And even more important than how it may change you, it will even change how God responds to you (Heb. 11:6). Now that's something worth running after!

Do You Love Me?

My last post was kind of a ‘downer,’ as we used to say. Hating one’s life is not an uplifting message. Jesus said His disciples would be known by their love (not their 'hate'!).

But we must be careful to explain that Jesus did not mean “self-love.” No, the antidote to self-loathing is not self-love. It is love of God for us, and our love for God. John says we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

How much do you love Jesus? One indication of how much you love Him is whether you are obedient to His teaching (John 14:23). As you look at your own shortcomings, you probably question your love for Him and you realize how much more you need to love Him.

Such was the case with Peter. After Peter had greatly disappointed Jesus (and himself!) by denying Him at the defining moment of commitment, Peter was embarrassed and ashamed. He must have felt like a complete failure. So at the end of the John’s gospel, we find Peter leading a partial band of disciples back to the Galilee to go fishing. Perhaps Peter thought “at least this is something at which I am not a failure.” But guess what? Peter and the disciples failed to catch a single fish. Standing on the shore, Jesus (whom they did not recognize) called out for them to cast their nets to the other side. And of course they had a huge catch. At that moment, they recognized Jesus. And Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. Can you see how much Peter must have loved Jesus?

But then, as they sat around the fire, eating the fish Jesus has prepared for their breakfast, Jesus asks Peter: “Do you love me?” Peter is unable to answer, using the same word for “love” that Jesus uses. Jesus says: “Do you agapao Me.” The word agapao could be translated “joyful obedience and commitment.” Peter answers: “Yes, Lord, I love You,” but using the word phileo. The word Peter uses is a weaker word for love, used generally for “friendship.”

It seems to me that Peter was embarrassed to say the he “loved” Jesus, after failing Him. Peter self-perception of past failures and the subsequent self-loathing distanced him from Jesus. He felt unworthy to receive Jesus love. And he felt he had failed in his love for Jesus.

Do you distance yourself from Jesus in the same way? Let us remember that is His love for us—an unconditional love—that is the basis for our love relationship. Whatever sins you have committed, the worst thing you can do is to distance yourself from Him. Do not let this keep you from receiving His healing love at that moment, and to pursue Him with all your heart.