In Luke chapter 10, an "expert in the law" comes to Jesus to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus' respone is one of the most quoted verses in all Scripture: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). Immediately we see this "expert" go on to ask who exactly qualifies as his neighbor. Now, easy as it is to judge this man for ulterior motives/wanting to get out of loving some people/looking for the easy road, I think there is a fundamental concept here of our human nature. We usually will try to figure out a way to do what we are supposed to do quickly so we can get on with what we want to be about! In John Ortberg's book, "The Life You've Always Wanted", he speaks to the issue of truly taking the time to love people. He writes "Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time and time is one thing hurried people don't have." Many times in the Christian life, it seems like we live out exactly the opposite of this truth! Hurry and run to church, stop by the bank to deposit your check, run to the grocery to make dinner for the family, drop off the kids at their school, go to work to provide for your family, head to the Tuesday night Bible Study, drop off flowers quickly at the hospital, dash in to prayer meeting, go to the kids soccer games and music concerts and then start all over again! I can picture myself standing before Jesus asking "ok Jesus...well who is my neighbor because it looks like I might have Tuesday at 10am or Friday around 1pm open...give me two names!" And as you know, Jesus goes on then to tell the story of the Good Samaritan and how there was a man who had the time to stop, see a need and love. Loving the Lord with all your heart and loving those around you is going to require time. Time spent in the Word, in prayer, in fellowship, in conversation, encouragement and a life that is characterized by a willingness to give someone love, spelled T-I-M-E. Today choose to Give Your Time (Love) to the Lord with all your heart's devotion, all your mind's focus and all your bodily strength. Choose today to Give Your Time (Love) to those around you in your home, neighborhoods and cities in the same way you would choose to use the time for your own needs and desires.
