Jesus lived the perfect life, accomplished more than any human ever did, and yet Jesus was never in a HURRY! He was Purposed but never PUSHED. He was focused but never Frantic. He was Resolved but never rushed!
Did you notice the pace of your life this morning as you came here to worship God? Perhaps we all need to slow down and reflect on the following…
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more but have less;
we buy more but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences but less time;
we have more degrees but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly,
laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly,
stay up too late, get up too tired,
read too little of God’s Word, watch TV too much,
Fast too rarely, give too little, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life;
we’ve added years to life, not life to years.
We’ve been to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space;
we’ve done larger things, but not better things;
We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul; we’ve split the atom, but
not our prejudice; we write more but learn less; we plan more, but
accomplish less.
We’ve learned to rush but not to wait;
we have higher incomes but lower morals;
we have more food but less satisfaction;
we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever but have less communication;
we’ve become long on quantity but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion;
tall men, and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace (?), but domestic warfare;
more leisure, but less fun;
more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes but more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers,
throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies,
and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom;
So it is time to look again at God’s offer of REST!
Have you noticed that the world all around us is going faster and faster each day? And yes, we, in turn, are also speeding up. But some important questions we need to ask are:
When does faster become too fast?
Is there a speed limit to life?
What happens when we exceed it?
Does God give us a ticket?
This week this has been my target of study and meditation, as I have thought long and hard about the issue of our rushed society I conclude that hurrying is as much responsible for the problem of personal and societal breakdown as any other single factor. Here are some truths to ponder:
Virtually all of our relationships are damaged by hurry.
Many families are being starved to death by velocity.
Our children lie wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions.
That is why we need to turn again to God’s Word. Remember where we ended our recent series on fasting in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 58? I want to introduce our study this morning in the same chapter. As you turn to Isaiah 58, why would we in the New Testament Era, the Church Age of Grace start studying an important Biblical Topic in the Old Testament?
As you reflect on the book of Isaiah, I think you will be able to answer that question yourself!
(NR1-34; 000820AM)
Join the LAND OF THE BOOK channel to access weekly video releases over the next year totaling 50+ EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS featuring weekly in-depth Bible Study lessons with John & Bonnie. Clips are taken at just one of the places where we are taking our virtual journey through all the Lands of the Bible & Great Museums of the Bible on the Paul’s Life & Letters Course. Plus all the assigned HOLY LAND, Paul’s Life & Letters Course STUDY RESOURCES, and John’s two most loved books–David’s Spiritual Secret & Living Hope for the End of Days at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVK6dN-9kLDnQhYBFuES09A/join
Follow Discover the Book Ministries to stay up to date:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoverthebook/
DTBM Academy Courses:
https://dtbma.com/Default.aspx
Purchase John’s Books, Mp3 & DVD resources:
E-Books: https://tinyurl.com/y3wbhlxy
Here are links to our Amazon Pages–
https://www.amazon.com/shop/dtbm
Donate to the ministry: https://dtbm.org/donations/partnership/
For more of Dr. John Barnett’s Bible teaching messages, go to: https://dtbm.org/
https://youtu.be/G7x4ZSIPEtc