Busyness is not a sign of success, effectiveness, or importance, yet many live their lives as if it is. Busyness is a sign that our schedules are too full, and we are missing the opportunity to be fully present in the moment, focused on our true priorities. Of course, there are times, maybe even seasons, where circumstances require us to live with heavy agendas, but this is not meant to be a way of life. Even Jesus, a man with a tremendous mission, made time to be alone; to step away from the activity of ministry to be renewed.

When I first entered the process toward ministry, my uncle (who is also a pastor) gave me a profound piece of advice, “Remember, the pastor who is always available, usually isn’t any good when he or she is available.” I remind myself of this often, as many around me judge down time as a sign of ineffectiveness. I’ve seen it in meetings of clergy and lay people, whose calendars are filled with appointments. They pass the same judgement on themselves as they do others, believing that more items in their agenda, and on their “to do” lists, is a sign that they are doing more effective work for God. This approach often leads to little time to soak in the word, enjoy God’s presence, and listen to the voice of the Lord.

I remember being confronted by a person who had something they believed I should add to my schedule. The church I was serving at the time required a lot from me in the mornings, and the evenings were often filled with meetings and classes. This left a little time in the afternoon to get away with my wife, enjoy the company of friends, and spend some quiet time with God. When it became clear that I was not going to add this request to my agenda, her reply was, “Well, if you have time for coffee in the afternoon, you have time to do this for me.”

I could have chosen to allow this to offend me, but actually, it made me sad. Sure, there was little respect shown for the commitments I already had, but her comment represented the way she lived her life. It was no wonder she was stressed, and no wonder many of us are for the same reason.

We can talk about going deeper in our walk with God, pressing into our relationship with Jesus, and soaking in the scripture, but if we do not slow down and make time in our schedules, we will only give lip service to these ideals. Being good stewards of our lives and of our faith development requires us to be attentive to how we allocate our time. Time spent with God is an investment in all that we do in Jesus’ name, and it comes with great reward.

Here is where it can get a little sticky. There are things we need to do, and there are demands on our schedule we should attend to, but drawing the line between those activities and the countless nonessential requests can be difficult. Our view of ourselves, our desire to be needed and respected, and our fear of judgement can keep us from making healthy decisions about our time.

Not long ago, I was sharing with a colleague my struggle with what people expected from me. Between ministry and family, I was finding little time for nourishing my spirit and developing my creativity. Many of the things I wanted to do were being put off, or lost all together. His response was exactly what I needed to hear, “Who sets your schedule?”

We all like to claim the people in our lives are responsible for our busyness, but the truth is, the choice is ours to make. While there may be consequences from not taking on a task or appointment, the decision to include them in our agenda is ours to make. I needed that reminder. Maybe, you do too.

Developing our spiritual life requires an investment of time. If it is a priority, we will make time for the things that will grow our faith and relationship with God. In my own life, there are times when I will cancel my time with God to attend to other matters. I console myself with the knowledge that God understands, but if the appointment was with my Bishop, my Superintendent, or numerous other people, I would never cancel the appointment for those reasons. It is a difficult truth to accept, but I find it too easy to ignore what is most important.

This is why I need to be reminded of how Jesus ordered his life. One specific story always stands out for me. Jesus is on retreat with his disciples when someone finds him to tell him his beloved friend Lazarus is extremely ill. Jesus’ response to this news is to remain on retreat for two more days! When he finally arrives, Martha is quick to remind him that he arrived too late. If only he came sooner, Lazarus would be alive. Of course, the story concludes with Jesus raising him from the dead, but the message of his actions is clear, it was more important to stay apart with God, than to rush back, in spite of the expectations and opinions of others.

Experiencing a deep life of faith will require sacrifices. It will mean that we must prioritize our lives, and live out of those priorities. We will need to slow down and make room for God to have our attention for more than a few moments, or while we are rushing on to our next appointment. These decisions will not be easy, or popular, but they will be right, and as is often the case, the best results will come from doing the hard thing.

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Going deeper with God naturally involves soaking in the Scripture. In these precious texts, we find the revelation of God’s heart and design for our lives, and the world. As we listen deeply to the word of God resonating within our spirit, we deepen our relationship with the Author and we receive greater revelation for our lives.

In Colossians 3:16 we read, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” It is the very design of God that we allow the word of God to dwell within us. More than that, we are meant to experience the richness of the presence of the word within us. As we allow the word to take root within us, we can strengthen ourselves, and our community, and we will find the song of the Lord rising up within us.

One of the passages I return to again and again is Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” By constantly pondering and meditating on the good things of God, we see more of God in our lives, and the light of Christ shines brighter on our path. Soaking in the Scripture is the primary way we “think on these things.”

Many of us were trained to read for distance, and we try to read as much as we can, as quickly as we can. There is value in reading this way because we expose ourselves to more information and can capture overarching themes that we might miss otherwise. There is, however, also a need to read for depth, working to mine all that we can from what we are reading. This is a slower process that allows us to savor the meaning of words, and the application of that meaning to our lives.

Consider the passage of Colossians above. Just the first phrase is full of meaning and insight. Her rare just a few thoughts:

• “Let” – We have an active part in seeing the word of Christ dwell richly in us. God is clearly the source of the word, and it is by the Spirit that we receive the word, but there is part for each of us in the process. We must allow the word to take root. This is much more than merely making time to read it, though that is necessary. We must actively participate in receiving the word. 
• “Word of Christ” – As part of the Trinity, Jesus Christ is the author of more than just the words in red. The words of Scripture are his words that speak life into us. 
• “Dwell” – The goal of engaging Scripture is much more than reading, it is inviting the very word of God to live in us. Through our meditation on the word, we make room for it to make a home within us, shaping our thoughts and flavoring our lives. 
• “Richly” – When God is involved, there is always an abundance. Scripture does more than guide us, or give us information. It overflows into our lives, creating life within us, and through us. 

In just a few words, we can see that there is much to savor. As we soak in the Scripture, we are infused with its truth and our lives begin to reflect its content in how we think and act. There are no shortcuts, and this may seem disappointing yet, like any relationship, the deep value is revealed in extended time together. Yes, there is an investment of time and attention, but the reward is a deep, rich, centered life in God, and the gift of divine revelation for our lives and the world. That is surely worth the time.

May your time soaking in the Scripture, yield deep and lasting fruit in your lives.

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Last week was our denomination’s Annual Conference. It is always great to see friends, experience great teaching and worship, and do the business of the church.

In preparation for the event, each of us receives a journal with all of the necessary information, including all of the action items for our time of business, details of the budget, and general information about our time together. Additionally, we are given a time to gather prior to the event to review the information together, receive clarification, and ask lots of questions. There is also plenty of time to reach out to others to become better informed.

In spite of all of the preparation time and options, there are still people who come expecting to hear about, and understand, the information after arriving at the conference. After nearly 30 years of attending these conferences and being a person who invests the time in reading and asking questions, I am always a little annoyed by those who don’t prepare, but more importantly, I feel bad for those who are trying to navigate all of the details at the last minute.

Unfortunately, too many people approach their faith in the same way. Life gets busy with many distractions. It becomes all too easy to coast through the week and then try to get close to God and grow deeper in faith by attending church services on Sunday. Just like procrastinating for an exam, it is hard to make it work by cramming things at the last minute, and just like those late night cramming sessions, what you gain is often lost quickly after the exam.

Being Christian is more than just going to church services. It is more than a lifestyle. It is a way of being that finds its identity in relationship to Jesus, and its purpose in loving and serving others. Worship is central to our daily lives, as are prayer, study, and reflection. Acts of compassion and concern for the world flow out of our relationship to its Creator. We do not merely go to church, we are the church, the body of Christ in the world.

We certainly need to be in community with other Christians. We were never meant to be islands; Lone Ranger saints who live without one another. The Psalmist reminds us, “How good it is when sisters and brothers dwell together in unity. We need the rootedness that comes from belonging to a connection with others. In that relationship there is a place for building one another up, offering compassionate correction, and growing together in God. We can live successful Christian lives on our own.

Yet, we cannot live successful Christian lives in relationship to one another and the world, if we do not nurture our faith in our everyday lives. An ongoing passion for a deeper relationship with Jesus, and a greater fire of the Holy Spirit burning within us, leads us to more mature, whole life in relation to others.

Of course we should gather as the church to worship, pray, and study, but that experience should come from the overflow of the Spirit nurtured in our daily walk with Jesus. Instead of coming to a worship service to get what we need to get through the coming week, we might better come to share out of the abundance of a week lived in the passionate presence of the Savior. Instead of looking for what we can get, we come to give out of what we received to build one another up, so that together, we can go forth to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The deeper we go in our relationship with God, the richer and fuller our lives will be, and the greater the impact those overflowing lives will be for our communities and the world. We must pray for the passionate fire of the Holy Spirit, saturate ourselves with the truth, and make ourselves available to be conduits of God’s love for the world. We are blessed to be a blessing. As our roots grow deep in God, we become a tree that bears much fruit for the sake of the world and the glory of God.

May your week be richly blessed as you go deeper in your relationship with Jesus.

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That is not to say there are not benefits that come from digesting large portions of Scripture. Earlier this year I took on a Bible reading challenge to complete the whole Bible in 90 days. It took me a little more than that, but in the process, I discovered a number of things that only seemed to surface when I could capture the sweeping action of the story. Reading for distance can lead to some wonderful discoveries. It can also prevent us from mining the richness of the story.

In Psalm 119, the writer says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (verse 11) Slowing down our experience with the word of God leads to the unveiling of hidden treasures that go deep in our spirits and from there, transform our lives from the inside out.

Throughout the past two millennia, Christian monastics and mystics embraced a practice known as lectio divinia. This process of “divine reading” encourages the reader to come prayerfully to the word and to read slowly. As the words are thoughtfully received, the reader remains attentive to what thoughts and ideas resonate within and captivate the attention of the spirit. When these treasures are uncovered, the process of meditating on them begins, allowing the opportunity to savor the deep things of God and life.

What are the thoughts and feelings of the people in the story? How would the early listeners receive the this teaching? What fills my spirit with holy expectation, and what troubles me as I engage what I am reading? These are the type of questions that draw us into the holy moment before us, inviting us to do more than read, but to interact with the message. We may be deeply challenged, or equally encouraged, but we will be moving our reflection from information to inspiration.

Encountering the word of God in this way has less to do with digesting ideas, than with savoring truth. In a culture that has become quite adept at eating food for sustenance while barely tasting what we consume, the patience to appreciate the subtle flavors of the Scripture may take some time to develop. Each step in that direction, however, will deepen our discovery and enhance our spiritual maturity.

If we truly desire to enrich our spiritual lives there will need to be time for careful, deep reflection on the things of the Spirit. In those moments of stillness and contemplation, we will be remade in our spirit and that will lead to the transformation of our lives. Then, when we return to the necessary speed of serving in the world, our eyes will be open to the wonder of God, our spirits attentive to the voice of God, and our lives empowered for the service of God.

Reading for depth is not merely about intellectual stimulation, but about deep spiritual insight that transforms us so we can transform the world.

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