Busy lives are not God's choice for us!

I realized a long time ago that I am nothing outside of Christ.
He is the One who holds my world in His hand, and yet, 
He can even hold my hand.

HE holds my world!
I'm not bragging...I'm confessing. I tried it without Him.

There is a heaviness in my heart today for a world of people who continue to shut God out.
A world of people who offer excuse after excuse as to why they cannot live for God.
Excuse after excuse why they cannot attend service.
Excuse after excuse why they cannot give or serve in any measure.

Have you ever stopped to consider how God might view people's rejection?
Genesis 6:6..."and it repenteth God that he had made man"

This world, and it's busyness, must absolutely grieve the heart of God.

How can it not?

Too often, God gets nothing but leftovers, and in some cases not even that!

In some cases, everything other than God gets attention.

How do we so easily forget that scripture tells us to "Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy."

Do we think that the one little thing like not keeping that one day holy (separate from all the others) will matter that much?

In the Garden of Eden, God said that they could enjoy everything but THAT ONE tree!
Just one thing. But it was a BIG thing to God! And their disobedience to that ONE thing cost them and us the rest of our lives.

It must grieve God to hear excuses.
"It's my only day off"
"I don't want to miss my favorite show" (or game)

Shopping, parties, groceries, lawn care....on and on it goes.

What an insult to God!
-to actually put someTHING before Him.
-To replace time with Him for someTHING else....


Insults hurled at God.
Fists shaken.
Cursings.

How God must grieve.
Or do we even believe He could?

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God...


If we are not careful, we will find ourselves falling into the trap of the "You only Live Once" mentality that this world has adopted.

You only live once so spend it all!
You only live once so buy it up!
You only live once so try it out!
You only live once so spread your wings and soar!


If we are not careful we will start defending our choices to miss Church, to neglect prayer and reading .
It would be the "I deserve this!" mentality.

I deserve finer things...
I deserve more money...
I deserve...
I deserve...

Judges 10:6-16 They grieved God by continuing to turn to strange gods.

And God grew impatient with them.

God is grieved when we fill our calendars and day planners with so many things that He takes the leftovers of our time. If there are leftovers.

God is grieved when He calls and no one answers.
God is grieved when He speaks and no one listens.
God grieves over people who parish and die lost in their sin.

Busy lives are our choice...not Gods!

If we are not careful...The good things God has blessed us with; jobs, family, health, beautiful weather...soon become our excuses.

How embarrassed will people be when they finally stand before God at the Judgment and spit out feeble excuses of how life on earth distracted them so much that they could not keep their eyes on eternity.

Then and only then will some realize....you will not only live once!