Lazy people are some of the busiest people I know. And I should know! I am plagued by bouts of self-inflicted laziness. If you call us lazy people "lazy" and we are deeply offended and will immediately defend ourselves with a list of our many and varied activities. But the unacknowledged problem is that we are busy with everything but what we should be doing! This is because our laziness is actually fear. Because we lazy people fear what we have to do, we find lots of other things to do so that we have an excuse for not doing what we should have done. My laziness looks busy. But I'm learning how to overcome this crippling fear.
There are things that I should have done by now. Instead of doing them I have found what I call 'reasons' as to why I can't get to them yet. My 'reasons' look convincing. They sound reasonable. They take up my time. They draw me away and justify their distraction. But still, the important things that need doing remain undone. But to the outsider my busyness makes look productive (the arch-enemy of laziness).
Jesus Christ was the most undistracted person in the history of the entire world. Jesus Christ was the most productive person who has ever walked our planet. Jesus Christ is the only person to have ever breathed air who has never offered an excuse in the place of His obligations. Yet He encountered distracted, unproductive, excuse-making people all the time. And thanks to me, He still does. In Luke 9 we read how he called certain people to action who instead of appropriately responding, offered excuses for why they were too busy to do what He summoned them to do.
The businessman who spends all day making courageous decisions and works late simply because he's afraid to get home and talk with his teenage daughter, is disovering that fear is busy. The wife who always finds a problem with one of her children that demands her attention simply because she fears making time for her husband who she thinks has lost interest in her. The student who jus has to support her struggling friend over Facebook because she's afraid that her maths homework is going to be too difficult for her. The pastor who always finds a crisis in his church that needs his attention because he's afraid that people might think he lacks good leadership skills. Fear is busy.
The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!"
Proverbs 22:13
There are things that I should have done by now. Instead of doing them I have found what I call 'reasons' as to why I can't get to them yet. My 'reasons' look convincing. They sound reasonable. They take up my time. They draw me away and justify their distraction. But still, the important things that need doing remain undone. But to the outsider my busyness makes look productive (the arch-enemy of laziness).I know why I look for distractions rather than attending to whatneeds to be done. Fear. I fear that if I bear my soul to that person that need to resolve things with I will be rejected - and I deeply fear rejection. I fear that if I attempt that project that I've been putting off, I will botch it and look incompetent. I fear that if I make a start on that book I must read I will not enjoy it or understand it. I fear that if I start this new exercise and diet program I will not be able to keep going, so I neer start it. I fear trying this new thing because I feel I am a slow learner and far more comfortable with what I already know and I don't want to feel like a dope.
To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home."
Luke 9:59, 61
Jesus Christ was the most undistracted person in the history of the entire world. Jesus Christ was the most productive person who has ever walked our planet. Jesus Christ is the only person to have ever breathed air who has never offered an excuse in the place of His obligations. Yet He encountered distracted, unproductive, excuse-making people all the time. And thanks to me, He still does. In Luke 9 we read how he called certain people to action who instead of appropriately responding, offered excuses for why they were too busy to do what He summoned them to do.There is a difference between doing nothing and being lazy. There is difference being busy and being productive. There may be no difference between being lazy and busy. The difference is determined by answering the should question. What should I be doing? The difference is obscured if I am continually answerin: What can I be doing?¶ I suggest that you finish what you started a year ago, for you were the first to propose this idea, and you were the first to begin doing something about it.
Second Corinthians 8:10
The businessman who spends all day making courageous decisions and works late simply because he's afraid to get home and talk with his teenage daughter, is disovering that fear is busy. The wife who always finds a problem with one of her children that demands her attention simply because she fears making time for her husband who she thinks has lost interest in her. The student who jus has to support her struggling friend over Facebook because she's afraid that her maths homework is going to be too difficult for her. The pastor who always finds a crisis in his church that needs his attention because he's afraid that people might think he lacks good leadership skills. Fear is busy.
The most productive thing we can do is to follow Christ where He leads us. In the Old Testament we find Jonah busily avoiding God's will. We have Kings Saul and David sharply contrasted by Saul's continual pandering to fears and busyness and David's courage and action. When Goliath challenged, King Saul was busy looking for someone to fight him - even though God had called him to be Israel's leader! We see that King Solomon was very very busy with his wives - but utterly lazy to what heshould have been doing. In the famous Biblical love chapter, First Corinthians 13, we see this same point made. Someonecould be busy doing good works for the poor but actually miss the point about why they should be doing good for the poor.FOR FREEDOM HE HAS SET US FREE
Author unknown"For freedom, Christ has set us free!"
What joy is ours to claim!
No more enslaved, humanity
Finds life in Jesus' name.
We try, Lord, to be justified
Through all the works we do.
Yet you adopt us, saying, "Child,
It's Christ who makes you new."
We're clothed in Christ and we belong;
Now no one waits outside.
In him we find our common song;
Old ways no more divide.
"It is no longer I who live,
But Christ who lives in me."
He died for us, new life to give —
And new identity.
Now, Spirit-filled, may we be led
From ways that would destroy.
May we your people turn instead
To lives of love and joy.
May we find peace that makes us whole
And patience everywhere.
God, give us kindness, self-control,
And hearts and hands that share.
Here's some things that I observe in people who live with less fear and have a higher ability than most to be productive.each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
First Corinthians 3:13
- 1. They prioritise the important over the urgent (they answer the should question before the can question).
2. They keep prioritised lists (deadlines keep them creative and productive).
3. They keep short accounts with those in their key relationship circles (they forgive, seek forgiveness, and listen well).
4. They embrace their failures and mistakes by redeeming them as learning opportunities (they have learned the art of "drafting" before completing).
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Second Timothy 1:6-7
Andrew Corbett
Camels, dromedaries, ships of the desert. One hump or two. Smelly, noisy, flea-hosting. I have asked many children what they hope to be when they grow up. Firemen, policemen, rock stars, sports champions, usually top the list. I have never, ever, had a young child aspire to be a "camel carer". Ever! Wealthy nomads owned slaves and hired servants to do this horribly humble job of watering socially insensitive camels. What might surprise you is that Jesus Christ was a camel-carer. Nearly everything Jesus said was from the perspective of a camel-carer...
By all reports the ships of the desert drink a lot. It is their ability to trek for days across deserts that helps to make them the ideal means for nomads to travel with their wares. If you were asked to water several camels by pouring water into troughs for them to drink out of, you would be very busy for the next hour or so. It wouldn't be a pleasant job. It was a lowly job. In Genesis 24, Abraham asks his unnamed servant to travel back to his place of origin to find a wife for his son Isaac. The servant loads up the camels for the long trek. When he arrives at a well near the country of Abraham's kin, he prays a prayer asking God for the seemingly impossible. As he waits for the owner of the well to arrive, he asked God that -
The most convincing answers to prayer are always the most coincidental. Coincidences tend to coincide most often just after praying for them to occur. Coincidentally, coincidences almost cease when prayer stops. Abraham's servant experienced the most remarkable coincidence to his prayer because even before he uttered "Amen" God was already answering his prayer.
Our Shepherd leads us. For too long I stressed about doing the "perfect will of God". But some time ago I met Jesus as my Shepherd who leads me. I found that if I stayed close to Him and walked through the doors that He opened I could only do the "perfect" will of God. Sure, I still pray for wisdom and guidance and I rarely rush into things, but I have found that Jesus is my leading Shepherd. He leads me beside calm waters. I have a relatively busy life. I run four organisations and am involved in running some more with other people. I serve voluntarily in these not-for-profit organisations gladly - joyously - and heartily. But its usually difficult to see any of them as "still" waters. In fact, in trying to fit everything in, I decided over the Summer to lay down one of my passions: tennis (so that I had time to fit everything in). But I felt Christ my Shepherd lead me to a tennis court which strangely resembled still water for me. When I'm on a tennis court hitting a ball my soul is restored from the calm clear waters. Others tell me that their still waters are literally still waters which they occasionally ripple with a fishing fly!
In the eye of my busyness storm, when the valleys seem deep and the shadows cast long, I have been experiencing Christ's presence. At times His presence has overwhelmed me. Each morning, when I awake, I grab my iPad (from which I read my Bible) and go into another room by myself. As I read the Bible, I reflect and pray. Sometimes I'm struck by how relevant a Text is for what I'm going through. Sometimes I share these journal entries about these Texts with my Facebook friends. It is a time of worship. A time of renewal. A time when I fear no evil because Christ The Shepherd is with me and His rod and staff (protection and direction) comfort me.
Christ The Shepherd has called me to pastor. I'm not like most pastors though. The burden to pastor that Christ has laid on my life is a little difficult to explain to most people because it's so unusual. Invariably, whenever I begin to explain it I am always misunderstood. It is often easier to let people be disappointed with my pastoring than to both disappoint and confuse them. My pastoral burden is not confined to a time-frame. I have burden to pastor in a way that will leave an ongoing legacy for generations. But it is a pastoral burden that yearns for the welfare of people who are beyond the regular reach of our church. And this is where people (within our church) begin to misunderstand me because it sounds like I'm saying that I don't care about those in our church. If you get to know me you'll discover very quickly that I deeply care about everyone in our church. But, just like the parents of an only child trying to help their child understand that just because they are having another baby doesn't mean they will love them any less, I try to help those in our church to understand that we are called to introduce them to The Shepherd and this involves us sharing in a slightly more impossible vision than we might have dared had.
by Dr. Andrew Corbett 4th February 2013
Spurgeon was converted at the age of 15 after an irregular visit to a Methodist Church in Colchester where he sought refuge from the snow. Even at such a tender age he was acutely aware of his sinful condition. He knew that he did not have peace with God. But on this day, a lay preacher called his tiny congregation and their 15 year old visitor to "look unto Me, and be ye saved" (Isa. 45:22). It was this simple revelation that effected Charles Spurgeon's faith in Christ as his Saviour.
Spurgeon's father and Grandfather were both preachers. Much of the time he spent at his Grandfather's as a young boy was invested in reading many of the Puritan books in the Rev. Spurgeon's library. Charles Spurgeon learned to read books from a very young age. From his 20s, while pastoring a church of thousands, he made it his habit to read 4 "difficult" books a week. From the age of 17 Charles was appointed the pastor of a small chapel in Waterbeach, Cambridge. But within two years he received a call to the historic pastorate of New Park Street Chapel in London.
New Park Street Chapel began in 1650 as a Reformed ("Particular") Baptist Church. When they called the 19 year old Spurgeon as their pastor in 1854, this 2000 seat church was barely drawing a hundred people to worship. But within a few months of Spurgeon arriving, it was full. Not long afterward they undertook a building expansion program to accommodate another 200 seats. Yet the crowds kept coming and queuing outside to get in so that there was an inordinate number of people standing during the service. The church hired large music halls each Sunday from 1856 to be able to seat those attending. Eventually the church decided to buy property at the Elephant and Castle in South London and contruct The Metropolitan Tabernacle. This new building was opened in 1861 and could seat 6,000. Spurgeon would pastor this church for 38 years, ended by his illness and death at the age of 57 in 1892.
Australia has been battered by extremes over the past few weeks. Just few hours from our city, the Tasman Peninsula has been devastated by horrendous bush-fires which destroyed the majority of homes there. Meanwhile in Queensland the worst floods in recorded history have destroyed homes, businesses and farms. One Bundaberg home builder had just a million dollars of his life savings on their dream home. It was one week away from final Municipal inspections and approvals. Because the owner didn't have this inspection and Municipal approvals he was not able to insure his new home. The floods demolished it. "I've lost everything!" he told the reporter. A Dunally resident, who lost everything in the fires was heard to say that in strange way it was: "freeing". It's tragic moments like these that should gently interrupt our sympathies and cause us to reflect on what we consider to be our "everything" - our real "treasure".
I once heard of a bumper sticker that said, HE DIES WITH MOST TOYS WINS. What a pitifully sad way to view life. Jesus taught that life does not consist of things, rather it consists of having rich intimacy with God. The next time you are feeling down about what you don't have, raise your hands to heaven and thank God for what you do have! If you woke up today and you weren't in the metaphysical flames of everlasting damnation, even if you don't care much for Christ, you should really drop to knees and gratefully bow your head in thankfulness! And while you evaluate your 401C or Superannuation Account, consider an investment strategy plan in eternal treasures! You can start building your true treasures now. But it will mean holding onto your material treasures with a very loose hand - that is, it will require a change from rich for yourself to being rich toward God.
Horatio Spafford was rich toward God. He and his wife mourned as their only son died very young. They suffered great loss in Chicago fires of 1871. He was a lawyer who had invested heavily in real estate around Lake Michigan and was sorely tested when everyone of these holdings were destroyed. He had previously arranged to travel to England with D.L. Moody in 1873 as he conducted evangelistic campaigns there. He still had business to attend to though in Chicago so he postponed his voyage but sent his wife and four daughters on ahead. As passed through a particularly rough portion of the ocean they encountered a fierce storm and the boat began to sink. His wife survived but his daughters did not. As he sailed the Atlantic to join his wife in England the captain of the ship called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Standing on the deck of the ship in the midst of raging seas he was sprayed by the billowing seas, he returned to his cabin and penned these words-
"Dream big", these popular peddlers preach, "because the bigger your dreams the bigger God will be to you!" But this idea is anti-cross. It's not your dreams for your life that give you purpose - it is God's simple plan for your life. But just because something is simple doesn't mean it isn't profound. Neither should simple be assumed to be easy. In a sense, God is simple. He simply is. He simply rules. He simply reveals Himself. Yet each of these statements are profound. God has a simple yet profound purpose for your life and it is easy to discover. The path to living it is stained with the wet crimsoned footprints of our Master. Yet there are those who peddle a message that God's purpose for your life is to help you achieve your dreams.
But some will refer to one of the million-seller paperback books by one of the television-preachers who said that because Joseph had a dream, God blessed him with its fulfilment. This type of violence to the sacred text is nearly unforgiveable for any preacher assigned their sacred task of explaining God's Great Word. Joseph did not devise a dream! His dreams were God-given! They weren't given to Joseph for Joseph to make something of himself, they were given to him as a measure of God's grace to him so that he could endure what was about to happen to him and thus fulfil the divine plan to redeem mankind!
Finding purpose and fulfilment in life is simple. God gives us each a noble path to walk that if we are truly blessed will also be simple. While tending his garden, Francis of Assissi was asked what he would do if he knew that he only had five minutes left to live. His response? "I'd finish weeding this garden!" It wasn't that he thought little of time, it was that he thought highly of doing everything for the glory of God - including weeding! Like the many millions who have found fulfilment in Christ for their lives, Francis of Assissi applied himself to whatever need God put before him.
Things happen. Some of these things cause us to wonder whether God realises or even cares. These things might hurt us or perhaps simply disappoint us. Like Job's wife, we often ask, "Why God?" But perhaps like Job, we need to respond by acknowledging that there really are no random coincidences, instead, all things are ordered by God.
Bill Hybels tells the story that he had to dismiss a staff member who was heading up their international ministry because he no longer had the capacity to lead that ministry. They had been friends for a long time. The staff member was shattered and left most ungraciously even though the Willow Creek Association paid him out far more than the amount of his entitlements required. His whole family cut themselves from Bill and ceased attending Willow Creek Community Church. Bill began receiving abusive letters from the man accusing Bill of unChristian behaviour. A few years went by and Bill was speaking in Europe when as he returned to his motel, his former international ministry staff member was sitting on a lounge in the lobby. Bill said that he emotionally sunk with the thought that this man was now stalking him wherever he went in the world. But as the awkward conversation commenced, the former staffer told Bill that he happened to be in town with his new job and thought that he would catch with Bill. He then thanked his former boss for dismissing him! He went to say that he initially had great difficulty processing the dismissal. However, after he picked himself up he was head-hunted by another international ministry who were paying him far more than Willow Creek ever did, plus he got to do what he loved (travel the world) and that these last few years had been the best of his life! Sandwiching his thanks to Bill he finished with a profuse "thank you" for dismissing him as "it was the best thing that ever happened to me." Was it a coincidence that the other ministry was looking for someone with just those skills at just that time the sacked man had processed his dismissal? At the time, it didn't seem so to the dismissed man.