What exactly should be ;lling my time,
then? It amounts to as much as we can
count on one hand: ( 1) we are to be loving God with all our heart, ( 2) we are to
be loving others as God loves, ( 3) we are
to be training up the next generation, ( 4)
we are to be representing Christ through
our relationships, and ( 5) we are to share
the good news of salvation and the reality
of Christ’s return. Let’s talk about each of
those ;ve piles that we’ve now exposed to
scrutiny.
Loving God
I say I love God with all my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, but do I really? What
does that look like? Am I just doing what
my kids love to do: playing dress-up?
Pretending to love God, but in reality,
living a very di;erent life?
I am currently in a hotel where there
is some kind of pirate convention taking place. Grown men and women are
dressing the part to the tee and taking
their play acting very seriously. ;ey
have spent their time, money, and energy
playing dress-up but never living real life
as an actual pirate.
I can easily dress like a Christian,
look like a Christian, and sound like a
Christian, but am I only playing the part,
or am I living the life? ;e ;rst thing in
living that life is to “love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.” Now to get it
out of that pile and into action.
Loving Others
I have a hard time with this second pile:
loving others. Not everyone is all that
lovable. I’d rather procrastinate on that
one, thank you. It ;ts nicely under the
bed and no one really notices it. No
one except God, that is. God Who is
Love personi;ed. ;e Love Who sacri;ces all for those who don’t even care
or appreciate it. Okay, that one hurts.
;e question is, Does it hurt as much
as the cross? ;is is my prayer: “Lord,
teach me to love like you do. In fact, give
me the love I don’t have—give me Your
love. And move me out of the way so
that Your love can ;ow through me to
all those you place in my life.”
Training Up the Next Generation
We really don’t have time to waste with
this next generation by allowing others to
teach them and then attempting to un-do
whatever damage has been done. What
more e;cient way is there to train up
the next generation than to stop wasting
their time and keep them home where
they belong? We can share with them
the urgency of time, the importance of
time, and the necessity of right priori-
ties and Godly investments of their time.
We are to help them discover their divine
purpose before their time is up. One of
the bene;ts of homeschooling is that we
don’t waste precious time; rather, we al-
low our kids to become productive at a
much earlier age.
Representing Christ
My husband just celebrated his ;;ieth
year here on this earth. We have been
married twenty-eight of those. I don’t
know how much time I will have le; with
him. We all think we have another day,
but that is not guaranteed. I know too
many single homeschooling moms now.
So, considering the time, how should I
treat my spouse today? We need to get
this one out of the closet too.
God put my husband and me together
in order to show my children, my family, and my community what a relationship with Christ looks like. I hope I have
not wasted these twenty-eight years of
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