We’re recently started a new series called “reset”.  In the first week, we talked about how Jesus makes it possible to reset all of life, giving us a fresh start in life that impacts every key area.  We’re going to look at many of these in depth, and this week we see how Jesus resets our use of time.

There was a time in my life when I prided myself on never needing a day planner.  I remembered everything I signed up for, and never double booked.  That was high school.  Ever since, I’ve found my time needed to be managed.

Through university, I started to rely on a day planner, an old fashioned spiral bound book.  I got progressively busier, but could still say yes to pretty much anything I wanted.  I would stay up all night getting things done if I needed to.  I was young.

By the time I started working, I had to start making choices.  I can only be in one meeting, one event, or one place at a time.  When I first pastored a church, I was still working as a paramedic on the side, until I finally realized I simply didn’t have the time to do both things well.  And still today, I find myself constantly choosing between demands on my time.  It’s only escalated since having children.

I can go on.  You probably can, too.  Bottom line, unless we’re still kids, time is all about choices.  It’s a limited resource – we can’t create it, we can only choose how to use it.

The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.  ~C.S. Lewis

But what if you could reset your clock?

That used to be easy – whenever I’ve started a new job, I feel like it’s a chance to structure my time differently, within the constraints of set tasks, family and personal responsibilities.

But even then, it’s never clear what’s best.  Read one thing that says “say yes to every invitation, you never know who you’ll meet” but then I’ll read something else that says I should learn to say “no” to more invitations to protect my sanity and family.  Which is it?

With an extra hour, I don’t know whether I should work more, play with my kids, read the Bible, exercise, fix things around the house, or what.  Someone will advocate that each one is most important.  Time marches on.

Closely connected with goals, last week’s topic.

Question: What would you do with an extra hour in the day?  Why?  What would be your goal?

Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course. Register for you and a friend today and come Wednesday night!

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - October 15, 2013

Tuesday - Study It - Friends To Family

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:1-9 ESV) Here we see Jesus in delegation mode. He’s spent loads of time with his disciples, teaching them with his words and way of life. Now, it’s time for them to learn by doing. They have been in gathered mode, now is time to scatter. So he sends them out with little…no moneybag, knapsack, sandals. He sends them with so little they will need to have refrigerator rights in other people’s homes to survive. He wants them to rely on others. Full dependence on others, will teach them full dependence on him. He asks them to find these people of peace by saying “peace on this house”. It almost sounds like a code word, but this was more about who the people are, and what God has already been doing in their lives to prepare them for the missionary’s arrival, and less about their response to a code word! If God has been making these people seek the peace of the kingdom of God, a travelling preaching proclaiming that message will be welcomed. Look how deeply he wants these relationships to go. He wants them to stay with one family, and not go from house to house. He wants them to become family, to be vulnerable, completely known and trusted by others. Question: Describe what you think a person of peace would be like. How would the disciples’ travels be different if they had more supplies?

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