Dear brothers and sisters,
Happy Pentecost! Praise God that we have another week to count as a blessing from Him. Every day, every week is a journey. And as always, the challenge is for us to see how each week counts for the most important things in our lives.
There is an experience that I am reminded of whenever my family travels. It is about the challenge of fitting the pieces of luggage into the trunk of our small car. As has always been the case, the bigger and heavier bags go in first. When the smaller pieces go in ahead, they leave gaps and spaces that are not big enough for my bigger pieces of luggage. This is a lesson that I need to remember as I travel through life and try to fit in all the things that need to be done.
Has there been a time when at the end of the day, we wonder about what the most important highlight of that day was? Many of us often wonder: Are we making any difference at all in our families, in our schools, or place of work? Then we take our inventory about how the day or week went. We look at our to-do list, our crowded calendars. How often do we see many small pieces of good things that were done, but may not have really counted for the most important aspects of our life?
Do not get me wrong. I do not advocate a life of idleness or laziness, in fact I admire those people who can multi-task! We all agree that idleness is the playground of the enemy. But what I want to say is that life is not just about the QUANTITY of what we were able to do, but on the QUALITY of we have become, and the relationships we have nurtured. For instance, we see how our Lord Jesus prioritized His time to focus on the most essential things. We know He was busy doing many healings and miracles, with people coming to Him for almost every reason. But while he could heal the lame, give sight to the blind, deliver people from evil spirits and resurrect the dead, He did not heal everyone. He found time to be alone with the Father in prayer and reflection (Mark 1: 35, Mark 3:7; 6:46). This is because His eyes were focused on His life mission: on being the Lamb of God. His mission was to die for you and me, as the perfect sacrifice for the remission of our sins, and for us to know that the Father loves us and wants to have communion with us. No matter how busy He was every day, He never lost sight of that.
Each of us has a God-given life mission too. The specifics of that mission is for us to discover individually—based on how God has wired us, shaped us, the passion that He gave us and the plan He has for us individually and as a church.
But He created all of us to belong to Him and be like Him. He created us to enjoy fellowship with the Father, the Son and the Spirit. May our daily journey, and all the things which comprise our day, gear towards the direction of us having a deeper relationship with Him.
Every day is a good time to think about where we are going and what we are doing, so that we will not spend too much time on things that are good but not yet the best and most important. I still remember one comment a minister said a long time ago: “If you do not have time to be with the Lord, you also do not have time for breakfast.” As we enter another week, let us invest our time in building our relationships with God, and with the people we love. Let us enjoy times of peace, prayer and creative resting so that without guilt, we can get to know that this life is not primarily about what we can do for Him, but what He is doing in us.
God is alive, powerful and is continually at work through the Holy Spirit, to mold us in the image of Christ. That is what the day of Pentecost reminds us. Focus on that. Prayer Points:
- That God will reveal Himself in life-changing ways among the young people in our ongoing youth camps.
- That the church will be on fire with a greater awareness of, and submission to the Holy Spirit, whom we celebrate during this time of Pentecost and daily (Ephesians 5:18). We know that we cannot do the work of God without the power of God (Acts 1:8). We commit to give top priority to prayer and moral purity.
- That God will revive the church with a fresh, sacrificial commitment to Him and His work of reaching the community as described in the book of Acts.
- That each of us will live a life that is focused on Jesus and being like Him.
God bless you all! - Ka Eugene
