The undisputed boss

“Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”- Ephesians 5:15-16

“My schedule is far less about what I want to get done and far more about who I become.”- Bill Hybels

Several years after Bill Hybels became a Christian at the age of seventeen, an older gentleman from his church began mentoring him.  One day, near the end of lunch, the gentleman asked Bill: “How would you spend your time if God were in charge of it?”  With that the older man paid for the meal and left.

The question stirred something in Bill’s heart.  Up to that point, Bill admits, he had been “the undisputed boss” of his time.  Ever since that day, however, that question continues to inspire a lifelong discipline for Bill.  Every day he asks himself: How would God have me spend my time today?

In order to stay spiritually centered, in tune with God’s whispers and able to listen to His guidance throughout the day, Pastor Hybels advises protecting those quiet, peaceful, and uninterrupted beginning hours to our day- surrendering them to God.  The author concludes that in rewriting our schedules, we’ll be making choices carrying far greater implications than we imagine:

“I’m of the opinion that the thoughtful arrangement of your daily and weekly calendar is one of the holiest endeavors you can undertake.”

Today’s question: How would you spend your time if God were in charge of it?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Your one-word commitment”

The undisputed boss

Coming from and going to

Moving on in Chapter 2 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg observes that open doors aren’t’ always well-marked.  In other words, when God does call, the call isn’t always clear.  Pastor Ortberg states that, as a general rule, God gives information on a need-to-know basis.  And God makes the decision as to who needs to know what, when.

Abram’s move from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land God would show him (aka Canaan) is a prime example.  Just as with Abram, there are two parts to God’s ‘go"; coming from and going to.  God was vague about where Abram and Sarai were going to.  John points out, though, that open door people are comfortable with the ambiguity and risk- or at least don’t allow it- to paralyze them.

No one looking for opportunity would have considered “going from” Ur.  Ur was a place of great wealth, trading, learning, and technology in 2000 B. C.  So Abram’s open door wasn’t obvious.  Going through God’s open doors means trusting God with our future when our path is ambiguous.

In Ur Abram had received a cultural inheritance of idolatry.  For Abram to receive God’s blessing and become a great nation, a move to seemingly undesirable Canaan was a necessity.  John notes:

“The open door is often more about where my insides are going than where my outsides are going.”

Today’s question: How comfortable are you with ambiguity and risk?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Blessed to bless”

Coming from and going to

Six words

“See, I have place before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”- Revelation 3:8

John Ortberg’s latest book is titled All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?  Pastor Ortberg begins Chapter 1 with this question: If you had to summarize your life in six words, what would they be?  The six-word limitation challenges us to focus on what matters most, to briefly capture something of significance.  John reports that Winston Churchill once sent back a desert pudding because “it lacked a theme.”

None of us want our life to be like Churchill’s pudding.  Yet we aren’t the authors or the pawns of our life stories.  We have an unseen Partner- God.  One of the pictures of God-inspired opportunity sprinkled across Scripture is that of an open door.  Although the image of a door can mean safety, hiddenness, rejection, or rest, in Scripture an open door is symbolic of boundless opportunities, as John defines:

“An open door is an opportunity provided by God to act with God and for God.”

An open door means the possibility of being useful to God.  God’s offer of an open door, and our response to it, comprise the subject of this book.

Today’s question: How would you describe your life in six words?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Remember the resurrection”

Six words