I took the month of December off from my Bible study commitments at the Meaford Long Term Care Centre. The only thing that I did was to lead a worship service there on Christmas morning. My wife, as she has always done for ten years now, went with me to lead the singing, while a friend played the piano. We sang the well-known carols, she sang "O Holy Night", and we had a good hour of worship together. Later, one of the residents thanked us for putting Christ back into Christmas.

There were several reasons why I cancelled the Bible studies. In December, we were moving after 35 years in one house and 35 years of accumulating all kinds of "stuff". After that, there were the Christmas preparations and celebrations, and then we had company for two weeks. The result was that I did not do a whole lot of writing, thinking, or studying. I was just too busy — too busy to do the things I usually do — dare I say it — too busy to have "faith" thoughts.

Now, this is nothing new. Jesus met up with people like that: people who said that they wanted to follow Him, but then the excuses came. There was one man who said, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." He meant well, but Jesus was skeptical. Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house." (Luke 9:57b,59,61 NKJV) These people, too, had other things to do, other things to take care of. Only a couple of incidents are mentioned here, but I would imagine that there were other similar occasions which were not recorded.

So often, it seems that we, too, get caught up in this web of other activities. It seems that even with all of the technological advances, we have less time to do the things that we used to do.

Even though we are led to believe that this is a sign of the present times, Mark also tells us about that problem so many years ago. The apostles had been telling Jesus what they had been doing and how busy they were, and Jesus said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." (Mark 6:31a NKJV) They, and Jesus, too, needed to get away from it all and reflect in a quiet place.

When the activities of this day and age overwhelm us, perhaps that is what we should do: step back and relax, read the Bible, have a discussion with a loved one, go to the Lord in prayer, think about "faith" things for a while, and let the words of the Bible lead us.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, there are so many times when we get so caught up in our daily activities that we fail to take the time to talk to You and bring You our concerns and our thanks, as well. We ask, Lord, that if we have failed You in any way, You will forgive us. We offer this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Joel Jongkind <austria67@bmts.com>
Meaford, Ontario, Canada
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