Unhealthy Appetites

Jon Hardin

I’ve been thinking about unhealthy eating.  A recent doctor’s exam revealed that my cholesterol is creeping upward and came with the warning: “You’ve got to pay more attention to what you eat.”  Well, that’s what I’ve been trying to do these past few days, and it’s made me realize something: this next month can be one of the year’s most unhealthy sandwiches—the weeks “sandwiched” between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  For many this will be like a high-calorie sandwich—stuffed with over-eating, over-spending, and over-absorption with self and family. 

In the last week Lynda and I have been vividly reminded how, while we are eating our way toward Christmas, many people remain spiritually famished during this season’s celebrations.  We recently spent the evening with Muslim friends from the Middle East, and a few days later we had a meal with another person from a similar part of the world.  It made me realize that while I am tempted to turn inward during the holiday season, there are people like these—in fact billions more—who share these non-Christian worldviews and who (whether they realize it or not) are starving for the very thing we are supposed to be celebrating during this season: the Gift of God that deserves all our thanks.

So yes, the doctor was correct; I need to watch my diet.  But not just my consumption of high-cholesterol food and needless stuff.  Even more, I need to fast from my own spiritual carelessness  I’m reminded of Jesus’ statement regarding his own appetite, when his disciples were preoccupied with getting lunch, in John 4.  On that occasion Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34).  Now that’s a healthy appetite!  May God grant us hunger to do his will and kingdom work throughout the “sandwich weeks” of Advent. 

The Gift of Time

“How about if I take the boys out this morning, 

and give you some time to do whatever you'd  like?” 

So went Heather’s question to me regarding the upcoming Saturday morning. What a wonderful gift she was offering to me as a busy dad, husband, worker, etc – the gift of some time to do whatever.

Time is an important commodity in our culture. As Michael LeBoeuf, American business guru quipped, “Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” So when Heather asked me that question, it was a no-brainer. Why would I not gratefully receive such a gift from her?

The question I then face is “How would I ‘spend’ that Saturday morning gift, 

that commodity that was now in my piggy bank?

Time is a commodity only because of our limitations as part of God’s creation. We can try to manage it and make the most of it, but ultimately, we are prisoners bound by and within time. We can do nothing to make it stop, slow it down, manipulate it. Time moves ahead minute-by-minute and we are helplessly carried along in it’s current. 

While we are very aware of our limitations regarding time, 

we must remember that God is not. 

Time is the very thing that he created so his redemptive purposes can be carried out. As time rolls along, he actively presents us with opportunities to be transformed into a clearer and cleaner reflection of his image.

So back to my question of how I would spend a half-day of time that is given to me. What would bring me the most joy and recharge my batteries? I have several ideas running through my head that I get pretty excited about. 

How would you spend such a gift? 

When given a block of time like this, we shouldn't feel guilty about doing something we really enjoy, whether creative, productive, or simply taking a nap. God loves seeing us soak up such moments!

But wouldn’t it be a great idea to check in with God and ask him what would be best? 

After all he knows each of us intimately. A quick prayer might be, “God, you know me, all my needs and wants. Here’s what I think I should do, but what do you think is the best way for me to use this gift of time?” And why not bring that kind of question to him everyday? This seems to be what the psalmist expressed in Psalm 90:12, 

“Teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.”

We may see time as a limitation, but we can also see it as the means by which God carries out his plan. To that end, it is a gift from God. Recording artist, Charlie Peacock, captured this idea well in the first stanza of his song “The Secret of Time”:

Time is a gift of love and grace;

Without time, there’d be no time to change,

Time to be healed, humbled, and broken,

Time to hear the words of love spoken.

Click here to listen to this song.

Slowing Down to Run Well

Senior Pastor Steve Thulson

I once heard a Chinese proverb: 

When you walk, walk. 
          When you sit, sit. 
                    Whatever you do, do not wobble.

I suppose it means to do what you do clearly, intently and fully: whether it’s diving into work or pulling back into play.

I have a way of “wobbling.” My multitasking can end up fragmenting me more than fulfilling some focused purpose.  My breaks can land me in escapes like TV that barely cover-up a restless stewing about the tasks that didn’t get done. There’s neither fruitful labor nor peaceful rest. I could blame our driven, busy and hurried culture; except that culture is in me as much as I in it.

Yet all the more, I am in Christ. And he is in me.

I hear the still but strong voice of Jesus say “Come to me and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:29). He gives a deep rest even as we also take up his “yoke” of actively working with him, and take up our “crosses” of sharing in his suffering that’s redemptive. He leads us into work and rest that’s not “wobbling.” As we hear the Apostle Paul say: “Whatever you do… do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Colossians 3:17). That’s a way of saying “Do all you do in the presence of Jesus – with him, not just for him, much less apart from him.

Part of our church family’s focus this Fall and beyond is slowing down to run well. That’s not about being slow because you don’t run well – even if that’s the literal case for some us now! It’s growing into a freedom to let God run the universe and find peace in the place you get within that – no more, no less. It’s finding a pace – sometimes moving fast, sometimes being absolutely still – that’s “in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). In the words of Eugene Peterson paraphrasing Jesus, it’s learning  “the unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:30 in The Message).  

By his grace, that’s the “run” Jesus has me on. How about you?