Busy, Busy, Busy!

"I'm sorry; I would love to, but I just don't have the time."

"Could we do this later? I'm a bit busy right now."

How often do we hear these types of statements? How many times have we said these things to others?

"Busy-ness" seems to be the universal condition of people today. It does not matter how old you are, what gender you are, where you work, what you like or dislike, or any other condition-- we are all busy! This seems quite ironic, considering the promise of modern technology that our lives would be simpler and easier.

In reality, we do have more time than our forefathers-- we have just found other ways in which we occupy that time. Time that used to be spent in various chores and duties is often spent in front of the television or engaging in some other form of entertainment. Such things, in and of themselves, are not wrong. Being busy, in and of itself, is not wrong. A question confronts us: with what are we busy? How are we spending our time? How should we spend our time?

Being busy seems to be par for the course for the modern American. Nevertheless, we all have the same 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. We must understand that if we say that we are "too busy" for things, it really means that we have made other priorities.

God has much to say about where we should be placing our time and priorities. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus addresses the reality that most people spend much of their time either concerned about or working toward life's necessities. It is not as if Jesus does not expect people to work (cf. 1 Timothy 5:8), but He establishes in Matthew 6:33 that we ought to put the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first, "and all these things shall be added unto you".