A Prayer

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story", and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "One nation under God".
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused our power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. We have become sexually deviant and called it a type of lifestyle. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen."

Time Well Wasted

Mike has started a sermon series about time. He challenged the congregation to prioritize, and move God to the forefront of their daily lives by giving Him their time. The bible tells us in Matthew 6:33 about priorities. It says,
"Seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
This begged me to ask the question: Is there such a thing as time well wasted?
Those that are close to us know that Mike has very poor time management skills and he is often distracted when he needs to be focused. In his challenge to the congregation, I saw his great need to challenge himself to do the very same things that he was asking of them. I know that he desires to make better use of the time he has been given, but it just sometimes doesn't work out that way for whatever reason. Back to the previous question: Is there such a thing as time well wasted? I think we have a choice. We can choose to live for today and not worry about what tomorrow might bring. And although living in the moment may sound nice, it's not very practical for most people. To most, it sounds impulsive and flighty in nature. We know that we have to work and earn an income in order to support ourselves, but what else do we really HAVE to do? Some people think that time is relative to productivity, which is not necessarily true. Some think in terms of money or numbers. Some people can't sit, they can't take time because there isn't enough so they have to go, go, go and do, do, do.
Scripture also tells us this:
"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say,"If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." James 4:13-17.
What does this mean to you? To me, it means that even though I am vapor in the wind, I am to leave my mark while I am here because I won't be here for long. I think this is God's way of telling us that old familiar saying that life is too short. We are here today and gone tomorrow. Those of us that have lost someone that we care for, know that all too well. Studies have shown that a high number of people spend their time worrying and their lives are ridden with different anxieties. Those same studies show that the average person worries about things that never even happen. What a waste of time.
With that said, how do we make sure we spend our time wisely and effectively? How do we make sure that we are good stewards of the time that we have been given?
The answer: we seek Him first.