My wife and I are busy. Not as busy as some. We don’t have kids which means we don’t have to feed them, pick them up from school, drive them to hockey games, piano lessons, swim meets, etc. Nevertheless, we have enough things to do that keep our schedules somewhat full. We drive 45 mins-60 mins each way to work, work for 9 hours, Alicia cooks dinner right when she gets home, we maintain our devotions with each other, wash dishes, do laundry, and spend time with each other so that we can grow in our relationship. We thank God for all these things and we realize that one day we will be much much busier (I can see a Father smiling as he reads this).
Sometimes when we are busy it seems like we only have enough time for ourselves. Sure we go church on Sunday morning and evening and on Wednesday night but in terms of having time for others, no way! When we think of ‘doing’ anything else, driving to another place after work, then the whole thing seems overwhelming.
How are we to work for the Kingdom when we seem so busy? The Derek Webb song comes to mind, “I don’t want your cash or coins, I want your time, I want your voice, I want the things you just can’t give me.” So how can we give Jesus and his kingdom our time when it seems like we have none?
Perhaps there are 3 things we can do: 1) we can examine the way we use our time to see if we really have more time than we think; 2) we can look for opportunities to work for the kingdom of God where we are (i.e. it may not be a matter of simply adding something to our schedules; and 3) we must prepare to be inconvenienced for the sake of the kingdom.
On the last two points, sometimes we can feel that serving Jesus is a matter of adding a whole bunch of things to our schedule. However, this can, perhaps, cause a false dichotomy (or a works-righteousness) in our thinking (i.e. we go to work, church and then we do the kingdom work.). But this isn’t the way it has to be. How can we work for the kingdom at work or at church? Perhaps it means showing compassion to a co-worker that gets on your nerves and telling them about Jesus' death and resurrection; or maybe it means driving out of your way to pick your friend up for church? We can work for the kingdom where we are.
As for Derek Webb’s song, Jesus does want more than our money. He wants everything. He wants our hearts. Some people have been blessed with the ability and time to minister to the poor and needy. But I think that it does please Jesus when we give of our income, not just our time, to these causes (if our hearts are right). So let’s be generous with our money and give to those ministries and to those who minister that show what it looks like when Jesus is king. Be prepared to sacrifice your own comfort and convenience for the sake of the Christ. Most importantly, let’s invite people to come along and experience the kingdom for themselves through faith in Christ.
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