Offering my time - Exodus 18:15-27
Did you know that in Arab countries they learn to tell time by measuring the length of their shadows. It proved to be a fairly accurate way to determine the hour of the day. The Bible tells us that our Heavenly Father has measured out our days in a more perfect way.
Psalm 139:16 New International Version NIV
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God knows exactly how many days you and I have to enjoy life here on planet earth. God is also very interested in how we use our time.
The familiar passage of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us of how precious and brief time is for each of us.
3 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Those words are from the wisest man that God used to lead Israel King Solomon. He knew the value of time. There are also others in the Bible that can teach us about the economy of time.
Moses was just such a person. Moses wrestled with managing time as so many of us do in our modern hurried society. We have tried to make ourselves more efficient with, Tweets, and Posts and Emails and Pokes but all this technology has not made our lives simpler, it is in fact more complicated and hurried than ever before.
It reminds me of “The Mad Hatter” from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland where he is charging around in circles shouting “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date” strung around his neck is an over-sized pocket watch which his eyes are constantly drawn to. The sad thing is that “The Mad Hatter” cannot remember what is so important about his important date. All he knows is that he is late. Source:
http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/product/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-original-version-2/
How much like him have we become?
A few weeks ago my wife and I joined a community band in Wallaceburg. She is learning to play the Alto Saxophone and I am re-learning to play the trumpet. So far our neighbours have not complained. Fortunately their air conditioners have been running and their windows have been closed.
Our Director Mr. David Babbitt spent a good deal of time explaining musical time to us so that we might learn some music theory. He told us that each bar of music is a measure of time and that within that bar you could conceivable fit an incredible combination of notes. Musical notes all have distinct value. In a similar way each day that we live is measured by its own unique value. Still the fact remains that you can only put so much musical time into each bar of music, those rules were fixed. Just as we can only put so many hours into our day.
Moses discovered this in Exodus 18:17-23.
Here Moses was becoming exasperated by the time he had to spend listening to person after person as he weighed out their problems and offered solutions.
17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good.
18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.
21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.
23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
Each of us as a member of The Body of Christ have certain gifts and abilities. Each of us give of our gifts and abilities as God empowers and enables us for the betterment of the Church. Each of try to do so within the time frame that we have to offer. When we try to exceed those time frames we can end up like Moses exasperated and weary unable to perform at our best.
Within the Church just as within the Hebrew nation we need to divide the workload among those who are capable and willing to carry out the responsibilities and duties of the Church. Aaron was the Priest for the nation and Moses was the Judge. Others were found to take on roles that freed Moses up for his distinct ministry as well as Aaron for his.
Timing is very important. Often we can miss opportunities and the time to move in one direction can be lost. This can be said of our churches as well as our leaders.
Illustration:
I’m reminded of an incident that happened in the industrial part of a community. A huge warehouse had become engulfed by flames and every piece of fire equipment had been dispatched. Unfortunately they were not having much success until the call went out to a group of retired firefighters who had a retired fire truck.
Quickly they arrived on scene and went past all the news cameras and reporters then they went past the police barricade and then past all the other fire units that were at the scene and to the shock of everyone they drove straight into the warehouse and into the middle of the fire.
These old firefighters got out and immediately began to put down the fire. Within 20 minutes they had the fire out. A month later at a press conference the Mayor was giving each of these men a medal for their valor and heroism. They were also given a cheque for $10,000.00 dollars and the Mayor asked them what they intended to do with the money. An elderly firemen stepped forward and said… “We are going to fix the brakes on that old fire truck”.
Source: David Arrol MacFarlane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKFsbdoJYls
For some of us “Offering our Time” can be just like this. We find that we have no brakes and we drive into the middle of things engulfed by the fire around us. Fortunately some of us are able to extinguish the fires but not all of us wanted to be there in the first place. Some wished we had decent brakes and knew when to advance and when to stop. We need to know the limits of the time that we have to offer.
But I do not want you to get burnt out or feel trapped into offering time you do not have. Your first priority is to take care of yourself just as Moses realized. Know your limitations. There are others in the church who should step up and do their part. Some are in fact just waiting for the opportunity.
The story is told of William Booth who was the first General of the Salvation Army. His granddaughter had asked him how to prioritize a Christian life. He is said to have replied “God help us all to put first things first and give Him the really big place in our life.”
Source pg. 163 #408 Heartwarming Bible Illustrations AMG International 1998.
1 Timothy 5:8 King James Version KJV
8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
We do no one any service when we take them from their family or their spouse in order to serve the needs of the church instead of serving the needs of their family. Too often we can fall into a false belief that we are indispensable and that only we are able or capable of handling a certain role or responsibility.
There is a saying that "we can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good." Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/oliverwend152682.html
God intended us to be good first and foremost with our loved ones. Our families. This does not mean that we abandon Sunday worship or other responsibilities we have in raising our children to know the Lord. We must offer our time to the Lord in a way that is pleasing to God. That includes offering it to our families so that we have strong healthy relationships with the ones God has given into our lives.
Again we each have our roles, spiritual roles as members of our families and as members of the family of God. We need to find that balance where we can be effective at home and in the Body of Christ the Church without neglecting one over the other.
There are lots of very busy occupations and callings in our world and medical doctors have some of the most hurried lifestyles. Dr. Peter Saunders is a former general surgeon and is Chief Executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship in the U.K. It was a fellowship that was started in 1949 and has nearly 5,000 members. Dr. Saunders puts time management this way...
“Jesus uniquely maintained a balance between worship, prayer, family, friends, work and rest. To do this, he kept an intimate relationship with God and he had a clear view of his life task; he is our model. He prayed regularly and especially before each important decision, such as choosing the disciples, embarking on his public ministry, feeding the 5,000 and facing his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. He also withdrew to pray after periods of exhausting ministry. To junior doctors embarking on a career of ministering to the sick, I regularly quote the verses, '...crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. My prayer is that we would learn from Jesus to use our time in a way that most glorifies God. But don't let worries about time management consume you. Trust God, for his grace is all sufficient; his Spirit lives and works in you.” Source: http://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=article&id=2085
That’s great advice from someone who values time.
“Just as one member of the human body harmonizes its function with the other members, we must harmonize our individual functions in the Church with those of others. There is beauty in variety, even as there is spiritual uplift from music that harmonizes a variety of instruments and voices. We must never get out of tune by harping on the one gift we consider ours. No one of us can act independently as a member of the body. We have to cooperate with other members if we are to be of any use to the Body of Christ as a whole.” Source: Illustrations of Bible Truths 1995 by AMG International pg.35 #106.
When we do that we are offering our time in a way that is honorable to the Lord. – Amen.
