Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
– Matthew 11:28-30
Let’s cut to the chase – most of us live extremely busy lives. This fast moving world and fast-paced culture has captivated our attention. We have become accustomed to instant answers and results and masters at multi-tasking. Just keeping up with a 24-hour news cycle has become hard work since the socialization of news has created an ongoing, global conversation that never sleeps. In fact, what’s trending on Twitter this morning will be “old news” by tonight! Have you ever sat back and wondered how we got to this point? So many things in our lives were invented to save time. Faster computers, cell phones, microwaves, fast-food, etc. Instead of taking that time saved and filling our lives with more relaxing activities, in its place we have filled our lives with more things to do.
In this rapidly moving world, it is easy to allow the busyness of our day-to-day life to take over. This is not the way Jesus wants us to live. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus wants to give us rest and He says the burden He gives us is light. Many of us do not feel that “rest” at times because the many unnecessary yokes we place upon ourselves are not light but often onerous. In order to obtain peace and spiritual rest for your soul, Jesus encourages you to come to Him, lay down your burdens at His feet, look to, and lay hold by faith on His person. So how do we do that? We do that by keeping God in His rightful place in our priorities. We do this by establishing daily habits of prayer, worship and regular, consistent time in God’s Word. The benefits of keeping God first and living our lives pleasing to Him includes God’s promise to bless our lives and make us prosperous. (See Psalm 1:3).
When our lives fill up with busyness, our relationships are the first to suffer. You no longer have time to sit down, talk and spend quality time with friends and family. Our lives are not meant to be so caught up in our busyness that we find ourselves looking back and discovering that we have missed the beauty of life. Unless you want today to become a yesterday with regrets attached, I encourage you to slow down so that you don’t miss the beauty that today has to offer. Tell the people who are dear to you how special they are. Take a few minutes to appreciate the sunset. Read a bedtime story to your child and schedule that coffee date with a friend that you have been putting off for another day.
Beloved, busyness not only interferes with our time with those whom are near and dear to us, but most importantly, it interferes with our time with God. How? Because we get so wrapped up in what we are doing, so consumed in our own importance that we miss the daily time we need with God to be spiritually refreshed and renewed. This New Year, make it a goal to not only develop a deep, intimate relationship with God, but to also tame that busyness beast in your life so that you can celebrate what needs to be celebrated and then be fully able to live in the joy that is here, now and today.
Next Week: Conclusion: Tips for Taming the Busyness Beast In Your Life
The writer does not assume responsibility in any way for readers’ efforts to apply or utilize information or recommendations made in these articles, as they may not be necessarily appropriate for every situation to which they may refer. Rather, the objective is strictly informative and educational. If you would like to contact Rev. Lester, write to her c/o P.O. Box 121, Brookfield, WI. 53008.
