| Begin or End Your Week With a Meaningful Devotion |
by Tim Knappenberger |
You know you've hit mid-life when you find yourself in dialogue with your children using this statement: "In my day we didn't have thus-and-so [You fill in the blank]. We had to do it the hard way..." For "Boomers", the "hard way" might have been boiling a pan of water before dumping in a packet of Mrs. Grasses Chicken Noodle Soup and then seeing if you could lob in that little egg capsule from across the room. One of the technological wonders from our era is the microwave oven. I remember when "nuking" a cup of coffee in less than a minute seemed miraculous. Our kids cannot remember a day without the microwave. From their baby formula all the way to those 20-lbs. frozen "Hungry Man" dinners they now inhale, the microwave and its compression of time is just part of their lives. I call this the "microwave mentality." Definition: I want what I want NOW! No waiting!
Our technological advances are truly curses wrapped in blessings. The labor-saving, time-shrinking devices we invent have given us a truly warped sense of time. Some future shock guru once quoted that we accomplish more tasks in one day than our 19th Century ancestors did in one month. "What progress!" we crow. Perhaps. But what we've gained in time savings, I believe we've lost in perspective. Quick is not always better. Here's what amazes me about this story of Moses spending time with God: It took 40 days for God to accomplish giving the Law to Moses. 40 days of one-on-one, day-and-night, quality, exclusive, no-interruptions, no-eating time with Almighty God!! Think about that. If ever there was the potential for a "spiritual microwave experience", you would think it would be in the direct presence of Almighty God. Just the sheer awesomeness of His physical and spiritual presence would, you might think, take Moses from "zero to infinity in 60 seconds or less." "Here Moses, here's all I want you know about My Law." BAM!! ZAP!! "Great Lord! Got it!" But, no. Moses required forty days and nights in God's presence. Okay, so what?! So, how many of you have spent forty days of totally alone, uninterrupted, and completely absorbed time in the presence of Almighty God? How about 40 hours? 40 minutes? 40 sec....never mind. If Moses required 40 days in the actual presence of God on Mt. Sinai, how much time do you think you need to really begin hearing His voice and knowing His will for your life? When you look at it this way, that 5 minute devotion swallowed down between bites of your bagel in the morning or that 30 second prayer drowsily mumbled through as you drift off to sleep at night seems woefully inadequate. Somehow we've got to find more time to spend with God. Simply put, some things take time. They're "Not Microwave Safe." Author's Note: I highly recommend the electronic book "Spending Time With The Lord" found on the Ministry of the Word Web page <http://www.thechristian.org>.
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Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. (NIV) Exodus
34:28-29 |
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Please drop Tim a line at knapp@raex.com |
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