Good Morning:
There’s no denying that we live in a busy society. The question “What is on the schedule today?” is regularly asked. Many people and businesses have trouble booking anything in the next week or two and so we have to schedule our appointments three or four weeks in advance. This of course means that our schedules are going to fill up as well and that the appointments, bookings, and reservations will continue to be scheduled farther and farther out. With so much to do, you often have to limit what you spend your time on. Some things are worth our time and some things are not.
The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 85 understood that some things are worthwhile and some things are not. He wrote of the worthwhile type in verse 8 “I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints;” Taking time to hear the Lord has always been important for His people and it is still important today. The Devil lies and tells us that God’s word is outdated for the world we live in. The world lies and tells us that a plethora of other activities are more worthwhile than hearing the Lord speak to us in the Bible. The sinful flesh lies and tells us that we’ve heard it all before anyway. Despite all the lies, the truth of the matter is that hearing what God the LORD speaks is worth our time.
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9 “there is nothing new under the sun.” The same struggles of pride, greed, anger etc. were experienced thousands of years ago and the Bible still tells us how to deal with them. The Bible is in no way outdated. There will always be more things to do on the schedule, but if we constantly neglect hearing God’s plan for our eternity our day today, none of those other things are worthwhile. We may have heard or even read the whole Bible before, but that doesn’t mean we really know it all, for if we did then we would stop sinning, and we would stop needing to hear about the peace God gives us. God’s peace is the real reason that hearing God speak is worth our time.
An honest evaluation of each day of our lives, leads us to the conclusion that we have failed God again. Whether that failure came in the form of pride, greed, anger, harsh words, uncaring aloofness or any other sin, every day brings more guilt and burdens to our consciences. We need peace from that. Unbelievers find peace in justifying or excusing their sins. They say things such as “he deserved it.” or “I couldn’t help it.” Believers find peace by admitting responsibility for our sins and then giving them to Jesus. He took them to the cross for us so many years ago and today, He gives us peace in return. He gives us the peace of knowing our sins have been forgiven and our relationship with God is repaired. What greater peace is there than that? What is more worth your time than that?
In Christ, Pastor Naumann
