I was sitting in my deer stand the other day bored out of mind. It was a hot day and the deer just weren’t moving; in fact neither was anything else, save a few hundred thousand mosquitoes. I hadn’t so much as seen a squirrel, or even a bird.
It is times like these when my mind turns to mischief. I happened to think of a friend of mine that I knew would be in some very important meeting whereby he would be attempting to solve the problems of the world. I decided to send him a text, (which I knew he would not be able to resist reading).
I wrote, “Did you hear what just happened on Guam?”
I chuckled as I envisioned him Googling Guam and scouring his news feeds looking for information on it.
Then in a few minutes I sent him another text that read, “That was pretty bad huh?
Some time elapsed and then right on schedule I received a text from him that read, “So what happened on Guam?”
I replied, “I dunno!”
I didn’t hear back from him until a day or two later and he told me that he did exactly as I predicted and tried to Google it while sitting in his very important meeting; (he held his iPhone under the table so no one could see that he was not paying attention at his own meeting).
He couldn’t find anything, so what did he do? He interrupted his crucial meeting and with a serious look on his face asked his high powered attendees if anyone knew what just happened on Guam.
That set off a flurry of activity as they all fired up their personal cell phones, iPads and other devices to Goggle and scour the search engines flooding the room and airwaves with microwave blasts as they looked for what just happened on Guam, but they all came up empty. That’s when he texted me and asked what was going on.
Of course I guffawed derisively for quite some time. All the while he looked at me with a mystified expression on his face that anyone’s mind could be so devious and demented. What kind of person could devise such a nasty way to torment him like that for no logical reason? The only thing he could conclude was that I did it for the sheer joy of knowing that I manipulated him into doing something dumb. He concluded that there was no logical explanation that a sane person could find other than I did it out of meanness.
So why would I do such a thing?
I dunno . . . (bad seed maybe?)
I think maybe because I was bored silly and an idle mind sometimes takes us to strange places.
It’s probably a good thing that I actually don’t have much idle time. I just wrapped up summarizing what was accomplished in 2013 and was absolutely amazed at what God did in my life and the life of our ministry to help us accomplish so many significant things last year. I also detailed all of my goals and aspirations to accomplish even more startling undertakings next year. (I will share a report of it today – You will be amazed and blessed!)
While Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and catalogue fond memories with families, it is also an ideal time to review the previous year and formulate goals for next year. I urge you to find a quiet place sometime over the holidays where you can be alone and do just that and come up with your own list of significant projects that can be accomplished for the Lord.
Take a page out of my book and don’t let idleness consume you. Too much food, too much drink, too much football, and of course idle time could just result in nothing being accomplished aside from the mischievous.
Day before yesterday a good friend of mine came to the very brink of death and could have just as easily crossed over to the other side. It came on suddenly, without warning and reminded me of why we should make the most of every day. Our days are surely numbered and we just never know when our number will be called.
A few weeks ago we were getting ready to pray before going in and conducting our church service. Our special guest Barry McGee told us that he goes into each service as though it might be the last time those who hear it will have an opportunity to make a decision to follow Christ and/or that “he” might have to tell them about Him.
Hmmm . . . That stuck with me and ever since I’ve been thinking that same thought every time I prepare to go on stage and speak.
Don’t let idle time consume you; it only ends in mischief. Spend your time wisely.
To end this crazy entry I’d like to invite you to a Christmas Eve service at Honey Lake Church tonight. We will sing some joyful songs, tell the Christmas story, have communion, and thank God for all of His blessings, (most important of which, was sending His only begotten Son to save the world so that whosoever believeth in Him might have everlasting life). AMEN!
There will be plenty of time tomorrow to exchange gifts and let those little wild eyed kids run from gift to gift in a chaotic frenzy. Tomorrow is also a good time to do something nice for those less fortunate and not to forget to thank God for what He has given us. Selah . . .
1 Thess. 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
December 24, 2013 – Click here to listen