I used to always think that it was all just a matter of learning to pace myself properly. I figured that if I did things in the right moments, at the right pace, things would be fine. I’ve come to realize now that this is not the way the world works, and this is not how we can expect to live our lives, if we intend to accomplish the best of the works God has laid on our hearts. Rather, we need to be ready at a moments notice to charge headlong into something when it is right to do so, and to wait forever, if need be, for something else. This dichotomy of seemingly incompatible confusion only remained confusing for me when I was focused on doing things centered around how long I should wait or pace something.

 

It is not about doing things too fast or too quickly, it is simply about doing things. When we are constantly worried about doing things “in the right time,” we lose site of God and the priorities of what is important in life. Then, our pride and arrogance comes into play as we say, “Well, I can do that some other time, this this is [more interesting, more pressing, more important].” The first assumption is that anything can be more important than accomplishing the destiny of our lives. The second assumption is that there is time enough to do the things we want to do. Both of these assumptions are false.

 

As humans, we often think we can have it all. In the U.S. this has led to the Business Mother, who thinks she can have kids, make a fortune, and be pampered all at the same time. Men think they can have a great family, make all the money in the world, live high on the hog, and still enjoy all the games, toys, and past-times they want. Quite simply, this is selfish. It is also something dealt with in the first part of our passage. James speaks to the lusts of our hearts, and our addiction to the worldly. As he points out, it’s our own selfishness and pride that often leads to the fights, quarrels, and all out wars that ensue around us. We can’t have the world and God.

 

This brings us back to time. There is NEVER enough time to do it all. There is NEVER enough time to have your cake and eat it, too. This makes it absolutely imperative that we put the first things first in our lives. So many times, we put the more pressing, more immediate, or the more interesting things first in our lives, and leave out the things, that, if we were confronted on them, would really be the things we care about more. In the end, the habits, choices, and things we let occupy our time are the things that eventually come to define us. You can’t spend your time studying engineering, and expect to be a great musician. Yet, this is exactly what people want.

 

What is even more difficult though, is that some people do not even realize what is most important to them, or how what they are doing affects their future. We must learn to examine ourselves, so that we can rightly see how our actions now will forever affect our lives and our destiny. We must walk our paths, but most people today do not even know where the path is, whether they are on it or not, and wouldn’t know it if they were on the path. They have a compass pointing North, and God has provided a Map for them, but they do not know how to read it, to see the path God has given them. It is imperative that we learn to read the maps of our lives, and learn to know whether we are walking in the right way on the right path towards the right end.

 

The bottom line is that we must look at what really matters to us, and then live our lives without misappropriating a single bit of our time. Don’t think, “I’ll have time to do this or that later,” because we don’t know if there will be a later. So, spend your time doing those things that are going to improve the things that are most important to you. The classic example is the father working endlessly so that he can have a great family, that has all their needs met; but, in so doing, he loses his family, because he hasn’t been putting any time into it. It is so easy to “think” that we are doing something “for this or that goal,” but in reality, most things are only superficial to the really important things in life. We shouldn’t waste our time on the superficial things which bring us no eternal benefit. Let us store up for ourselves heavenly, and not earthly treasures.

 

The importance of humility and integrity in this endeavor cannot be overstated. Unless we acknowledge our own incapacity, while simultaneously acknowledging our responsibility, and, subsequently, our power, we will go nowhere. We have an unique capacity for achieving the will of our Lord, for Christ’s power dwells in us; yet, at the same time, how arrogant can we possibly be, to think that we can do no work, and all will be given to us…yea, ought to be given to us? By the toil of our own hands shall we reap.

 

We must likewise have the humility and internal integrity to come to grips with our own selves, and demand obedience from it. We must have the integrity to admit our condition, and whether our actions are truly beneficial and eternal, or whether they are transient; we then require the humility to accept this, and change when necessary.

 

And then, we must likewise have the goodness and Christianity to admire the differences in our callings. We are all called to serve the Lord, but we are not all called in equal tasks, or in equal burden. We must lift up our brethren, and rather than beat them down in their walk, we ought to exhort, teach, and encourage them to righteousness, and to the accomplishment of THEIR calling. Too many people today either fail to push their brethren to action or display their own arrogance by demanding that their brethren accomplish the work to which the other has been called. Let us each do the work given to us, and not judge others for their lot.

 

This is admonishment to action, and an exhortation to industry and humility. I know I myself have a GREAT deal to work on in this regard, and I thought I would share this with you all, in hopes that we can all help to encourage each other towards our Lord and Savior.