You can hear the people say
That love is blind
Well, I don't know but I say love is kind
Remember the Heinz ketchup ad, with Carly Simon singing-how can you forget
her? “Anticipation,” while the ketchup flows ever so slowly from the bottle?
But did you know that Heinz had to fashion the shape of the bottle because
ketchup used to run so fast, that they needed to slow it down, to control its
flow. Just a thought to ponder the next time you are pounding on the bottom of
said bottle. I can remember the novelty of squeeze bottles when having picnics
at my grandparent’s house, laying down that thin line wherever I wanted,
carefully aiming, while always wondering “could I hit my sister across the
table?” And I do remember when I finally loosed the ketchup after serious
beating on the bottle, and a huge glob covered everything in its path. Too
much, just not too soon. All the time just waiting to get that burger in my
mouth!
Now I was reading the other day an article about time spent, or really time
wasted, depending on attitude. How many years we spend stuck in traffic. How
many years we spend doing homework. How many weeks over a lifetime do we spend
on vacation. And I wondered how many years are spent by people counting time?
Or reading articles like that. Am I part of a control group and didn’t know
it? Or was I told, and now I am part of a group who knows how long it took to
figure it out, again am I wasting time? But one event caught my eye, the
average person spends 6 months of their lives sitting at red lights. Now no one
wants to be considered average, so all of us above average people probably spend
more, while you sub par people spend less, maybe you know something we don’t.
I’m listening. And I wondered, if as a kid if I was told this, could I have
just found some parking lot, with others, and just hung out for 6 months,
getting it over with, and proceeding down the road, never having to stop again.
If that was all time meant, why can’t I just get it over with and get on down
the road?
Now that I am semi-retired, I wonder how I ever found the time to get
things done, the things that needed to be done. Like riding, so many roads, and
so little time, for instance. But it gives me more time to minister, and when
someone tells me about their situation, I ask them “have you prayed about it?”
And far too often the answer is no, I don’t have the time. But yet you had the
time to worry about it, to set up time with me, and explain it all to me, and
expect me to answer it for you? Ever wonder why you don’t have the time? So
consider the 6 months spent in waiting at red lights. Rather than read your
i-pod, eating breakfast, or putting on make-up, why not pray? You don’t need to
close your eyes and bow your head, Jesus looked up to the heavens, and just
talked with God, why don’t you do the same? Figure you spend over two days a
year in church, maybe that few seconds with God could change your life. And
when not asking, spend time listening, and you might find He has answered before
you even ask.
Or even while listening, pray. The only time I had a man refuse prayer
when I asked him, my answer was “how do you know I haven’t been praying just
standing here?” Just because you can’t hear the man’s prayer, doesn’t mean God
can’t, or doesn’t. And it doesn’t have to be long, like thanking God for
everything and everyone-by name, while your burger gets cold. Or in a
situation, HELP!, a one word prayer works fine. And you don’t have to explain
the situation to God either, as if you need to bring Him up to date on the
events. And He knows your name, no need to introduce yourself, even if it has
been awhile. And shouting doesn’t help, He isn’t deaf. Why not get familiar
with Him, and indulge in a conversation, He speaks, you listen, He listens, you
speak. Just like He is on the other end, why waste all those precious cell
minutes when God can be reached for free? He is the original unlimited calling
plan. Imagine your embarrassment if God gave you a printout of all your time
spent praying each month, might fill half a page. You might spend more time
waiting for ketchup, or at a red light!
But maybe it is the quality as much as the quantity that counts. Jesus met
a woman at the well, and was surprised at how He knew all about her. How she
had 5 husbands, and was living with another. Yet He didn’t preach her, her sin
was evident when in the company of a living God, and He didn’t condemn her. He
offered her living water, the gospel, and she took it. He forgave her, and she
went off telling others! And she was even a despised Samaritan at that, so what
is your excuse for not having enough time? What are you waiting for? Or are
you at that well now, thirsty, tired, and needing Jesus? Will you take a few
seconds now to ask Him into your life? Your situation? Will you desire it so
much you can’t wait for the light to not change? How hungry or thirsty do you
have to be?
Use your anytime minutes to talk to Jesus today. Why wait, you have call
waiting, and maybe He has been waiting for you to call. His line is never busy,
the switchboard is always open, and you don’t have leave a message. Or bother
texting. Isn’t that the type of service you would pay big bucks for? Use God’s
simple calling plan today, it is called prayer. “Any time , any day, you can
here the people say, love is blind, I don’t know I say love is kind,” do as
McCartney wrote, listen to what the man says. And that man is Jesus. I even
find I can spend time with Him when riding, not sitting at lights. Laying in
bed at night, working in the yard, or watching TV. He is everywhere, and
anywhere you are. Any time. Won’t you take some time and listen to what the
man says? 6 months waiting for the light to change is too way too long. Turn
to Jesus and wait no more. If 15 minutes can save you 15%, a few seconds with
Jesus will save your life. Time well spent now can make all the difference in
eternity. Can you hear me now?
love with compassion,
Mike
natthew25biker.blogspot.com