Don't Miss It! Take 5 Minutes With Jesus

Have you taken time recently just to look around you?

While sitting at a stoplight…

Or in a crowd at an airport…

Or even at your child’s sporting event.

If you do, you might be shocked by what you see: most of us are glued to the little glowing screen in our hands while life goes on all around us. I once saw a series of videos of people actually getting into accidents because they were walking while staring into their phones. People walked into each other and into light poles. One poor woman fell into a manhole, while another walked straight into the fountain at the mall!

Sometimes I get the sinking feeling that we are all so plugged into the vast cyberspace world available to us that we’re missing the real life that is right in front of us.

Our children are growing up.

The breathtaking beauty of God’s creation is on riotous display.

People are smiling at us and doing kind things for one another.

Psalm 90 says,

Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. — Psalm 90:12 ESV

The psalmist recognized that life is short and that none of us can predict when ours will end. So he asked God to help him remember this truth and live wisely in light of it.

Surely one aspect of “numbering our days” is embracing the wisdom of living them fully, savoring each moment as the gift that it is, being truly present in whatever we’re doing. That may mean putting down our cell phones more often.

On a recent weekend home from college, Christian told us that when he goes out to eat with friends, they all put their phones in the middle of the table. If anyone picks theirs up, they have to pay for everyone’s dinner! Not a bad idea, is it?

So put down the screen and look around you. Take time to drink deeply of each and every moment. Life is a beautiful gift. Don’t miss the joy!

And besides, do you want two million people seeing the YouTube video of you falling into the fountain at the mall?

Find joy in the goodness of God all around you.

Five Minutes in the Word

Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! — Ephesians 5:11-14 The Message

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. — Psalm 139:15-16 ESV

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. — Psalm 90:12

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. — Psalm 103:13-17 ESV

Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. — Ephesians 5:15-16

Excerpted with permission from 5 Minutes with Jesus: A Fresh Infusion of Joy by Sheila Walsh, copyright Sheila Walsh.

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Your Turn

Don’t miss the joy! It’s so easy to spend our time on the wrong things, isn’t it? Especially our down-time… I often want to do something “mindless” after a full day of work, picking up the kids, cleaning, homework, and laundry. I’ve barely looked up from the busyness and I just want to veg. But, where is the joy in that? I could use some joy! How about you? Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Laurie McClure, Faith.Full