The Busy Life |
Evening Thoughts |
Elder
Phillip Conley |
Say
something long enough, and people will accept it as fact. As
the closing scenes of a classic John Ford western once so
eloquently stated, "When the legend becomes fact, print the
legend." How many times has someone in recent years or maybe
even we ourselves said, "We just lead such busy lives.
There's so much going on. We're just so busy."? Pray tell me
how it is that a world full of labor saving devices, faster
transportation conveyances than ever, etc. that we somehow
supposedly are busier now than people used to be? While the
collective eye roll of the readership occurs, the peanut
gallery hollers, "There he goes again! He's in his ole
fuddy-duddy mood!"
Let us
journey back through history in a few stages, ending up on
the doorsteps of Scriptural history itself. There is a
generation just about gone in this country that really lived
a different life than people now can truly grasp. Most of
the oldest in this country had at least partial electricity
most all of their days, though some may remain that remember
no electricity at all. The oldest among us can remember
farming without a tractor, having AC in the winter and
central heat in the summer. If the millenials have even
bothered looking up from their phones, they are scratching
their heads thinking, "Life before the internet. Huh?"
So, if
we go back 100 or so years, we find life without cars,
without electricity, and certainly people couldn't buy all
their food goods at Wal-Mart, Kroger, or whatever your chain
of choice is. They grew gardens not as a hobby but out of
survival. They hunted and fished not out of recreation but
out of survival. Their daily routine was full from sunup to
sundown with activities that were all intertwined and
connected to survival. This generation was on the whole
quite pious, deeply religious, and they had the manner of
Paul to regularly frequent God's service. (Acts 17:2) Surely
if a generation of people could be excused from religious
exercise and a faith walk, it would be a people whose every
daily routine made their survival possible? Yet, they
understood the injunction of the Master when He said that
putting the kingdom of God and His righteousness first would
yield all the necessities of food and raiment. (Matthew
6:31-34)
Going
back further still, several centuries before the birth of
the United States, we find centuries of history marked with
blood and persecution. Followers of God's word were
persecuted by other faiths and heathens alike for nothing
more than seeking to serve God, worshiping Him in spirit and
in truth. Their survival was greatly jeopardized by their
willingness to honor and serve God. Now we're getting
somewhere! Their life was busy in running for their lives.
Surely a people could be excused for being too occupied for
service, even forgiven for laying their service down for the
sake of their welfare or the welfare of their loved ones.
Right? Yet, these faithful men and women oftentimes were
filled with gracious compassion to even pray for their
tormenters sometimes as they were being put to death, much
like Stephen did. (Acts 7:60)
Drawing
farther back into the threshold of Scriptural history
itself, we can investigate the busiest men to ever walk this
earth. Much like our agrarian forefathers, their daily
natural routines threshed out a natural survival story, and
much like our spiritual forefathers and their spiritual
successors, they were in jeopardy for their faith by other
faiths and heathens alike. These men were none other than
our Lord and the men He directly placed and called while
upon the earth: His apostles.
Has
there ever been a busier man than Jesus? Show of hands!
Anybody want to stack resumes with Him? The top 2 lines
items on His can utterly fragment all the best items from
the rest of ours. It would be like 4 of us duffers getting a
scramble team together to challenge some top pro golfer. The
best shot from our group will inevitably be lacking compared
to all of his. Jesus' top two line items are saving His
people from their sins and setting up His church. I'm out!
Any of you got anything? Yeah, didn't think so. Adding in
even more, He was here only 33.5 years. At 37, I've been
here longer than that, with far less to show for it. Even
more still, 30 of those years didn't address those top two
line items at all! So, for 3.5 years, He had at least two
tasks greater and busier than we could dream of in the whole
of our lives!
And yet,
His manner was pious, deeply religious, and grounded in
faith. (Luke 4:16) He even submitted Himself as a youth in
His parents' home to work in a carpentry shop for years, all
the while knowing and looking at great, great tasks in front
of Him. While accomplishing His tasks, He empowered His
apostles to carry the church into the next stage of her
journey. These men did things and accomplished things that
we today could not even comprehend. Anyone today want to add
an office to the church? Show of hands! Anyone? Yet, these
men were empowered to establish the office of deacon for the
church's benefit to serve and meet needs. (Acts 6) They
constituted churches in other cities, ordained elders to
carry the torch of the gospel, and baptized believers who
repented and confessed their sins. They did this all the
while scratching out a natural survival while at times
running for their lives due to their adherence to the faith
once delivered to the saints.
Busy? I
think so. Busier than me? (sigh) Yes, I'm afraid so. Today I
have decided to tear up the legend that has been printed as
fact for so long. No Jimmy Stewart did not shoot Liberty
Valance, and today is not a busy life. We have plenty of
activities, or maybe they could best be termed distractions.
Better yet, self-applied handcuffs and leg irons. Yes, I'm
afraid you've seen me hobbling about in the circuit of life
myself. Unfortunately, many are like Sampson. If they have
eyes, they're acting like they're put out and just turning
in circles.
Thanks
be unto God that through the tireless efforts of His busy
Son, we have a home waiting for us above. Thanks be unto God
for His providence and through the efforts of faithful men
from the apostles down to this present hour that we have a
piece of home among us in the courts of His church. Thank
God for the liberties I've had every day of my life that
I've never had to run for my life due to the faith we follow
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God that my daily routines
are not all geared towards survival the way my forebears had
to "scratch things out." May He help me to number my days so
that I may apply my heart to wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
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