School Starts!

August 12, 2021

School Starts!

Parents are still making last minute trips to purchase school supplies and school clothes.  Teachers are still preparing classrooms and administrators are still preparing teachers.  It is the start of a new school year!

Students are still trying to get their head into the idea of school.  Teachers are still trying to get their heart filled with enthusiasm for students.  Parents are still trying to get their schedule back into a routine.  It is the start of a new school year!

August is a season of preparation for new learning, new friends, and new life-lessons.  It is both exciting and a bit frightening.  There are many unknowns that will come at all of us.  Some of these unknowns may bring some pain while others will bring great joy.

Jesus understands that there are unknown things that come into our lives.  While Jesus is describing His return to earth at the end of the age, Jesus calls His followers to always be prepared.

In Mark 13:32-33 Jesus tells us to get ready for His second coming to earth.  Jesus says; “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.” 

Jesus tells us to be prepared even if we do not know exactly what or when something is coming our way.  Sometimes, we put off till tomorrow what we could do today.  We call it procrastination or poor planning or lack of motivation.

But, there is something much more serious that gets in our way of being prepared for the next movement of the Holy Spirit.  Too many of us are so distracted by something today that we cannot even imagine Jesus doing something better or different tomorrow.  We are often not prepared and not keeping alert.

There are all kinds of magazines and blogs and podcasts about the latest self-help craze; it is called “mindfulness!”  Similarly, there is concern about one of the fastest growing challenges for children; it is called “attention deficit disorder!” 

We are rapidly becoming a culture in which we cannot pay attention.  Maybe we are not so different from those to whom Jesus was speaking in the first century; we are busy with so many things!  No wonder Jesus reminds us to “keep alert.”  The Son of God calls us to be prepared by paying attention.

Unfortunately, jamming more into an already crazy schedule will not help us to pay attention.  Instead, we have to set some priorities so we can quiet our hearts and minds and souls.  In those moments of silence, we can focus upon Jesus’ character, Jesus’ love, and Jesus’ next intervention in our life.

The Psalmist records the Lord’s invitation to a people struggling to pay attention.  In Psalm 46:10 the Lord says; “Be still, and know that I am God!”

No matter how distracted I am today, a little quiet time with Jesus can restore peace, release joy, and inspire love.  When the Spirit pours these gifts into us, our hearts will be filled with delight.  We will know in big ways and small ways another coming of Jesus into our life.  So, we pay attention to the things of God. 

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug