When it comes to time, I’m neither a pre-crastinator nor procrastinator. I fall somewhere on the scale between the guy that shows up at the airport a half hour before takeoff and has to sprint to the gate and the one who shows up 2 hours early to make sure he doesn’t miss it.
Pre 9-11 security, my constantly-traveling consultant friend would leave his rental car at the curb until Hertz could pick it up! Like my friend, I want to make the most of every moment and tend to pack my life and schedule full.
With a wall-to-wall schedule booked weeks and months in advance, I have had to take precise inventory of my time. I have noticed a pattern of being “just in time” on almost all of my obligations, with the exception of things that I love.
For those, I find myself meticulously thinking about and planning for, or even starting, much further in advance. It’s no secret that I’m a “foodie.” I’ve been known to daydream about my next trip to France just to taste the Foie Gras I fell in love with as a child while on a family vacation.
When lost in the adventure of reading a Patrick O’Brian nautical novel, I find myself daydreaming ahead to when I can read the next book in the series.
Sometimes in the throes of a highly competitive tennis match, I can hardly wait for the next one scheduled on my calendar.
When you love something, you just can’t get enough of it. And you make time for it.
As time seems to be flying by faster than ever before, I am more keenly aware of the things I make time for. There’s no question about my love of family and always planning and finding time for Kim and the girls!
Beyond that, I’ve always loved God’s Word and it’s never been a problem to find time to engage with it—even in my most hectic seasons. Recent innovations like YouVersion’s ability to track my progress through a reading plan make me aware that I’m not “just in time” getting my reading done, but that I’m actually reading days ahead of what the plan calls for!
I’ve noticed this in my dad and his love for prayer. About the time he turned 40 years old, he began to nurture a deep desire for communion and intercession with the Lord.
Rather than seeing that passion for prayer wane through the years, it has instead grown to the point where today at nearly 80 years old, words are not sufficient to fully capture his love of prayer. When I’m driving him somewhere and there’s a lull in the conversation for just a moment, I hear him instinctively break into his prayer language. Or in the abeyance of an important board meeting requiring a pivotal decision, I see his lips moving across the room. I know he’s not talking to himself – he’s talking to his Lord.
If you want to gauge how truly, deeply, and earnestly you love the things of God, start your “search” by taking notice of what you get done “just in time” and what you can’t stop thinking about, planning for, and making room in your schedule for no matter how hectic. The things you can hardly wait to do or experience and cram into every nook and cranny of free time like my dad’s whispered-in-the-lull prayers …they will reveal what your heart already knows.
“Search me, God, and know my heart…”
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