Dear Trekker,
Recently I had a most tasty, delightful, elongated breakfast. (An elongated breakfast is where the talk invigorates and exceeds the time for the consumption of food.) A former staff man, his wife, and kiddoes were passing through Colorado Springs and breakfast sounded like a perfect meeting engagement. I loved it, and I think they did too.
Now understand… this staff man was/is a top-notch youth leader, the best! What a leader of young guys! I watched him on his local turf as well as service projects and other special events. He had his ducks in line, and God blessed military kids through him. It was natural to “call him to the mound” when I needed him.
Shortly before we were to depart from an overseas assignment and he was to return to his home base in another country, he stayed with friend wife and me overnight. (Trekker, if you are in a leadership role, gobble up every chance to get young warriors around you, up front and close. In intimate, personal settings is where questions and answers flow freely and genuinely.) In such a relaxed setting, he (let’s call him “Ralph” for this writing) turned to me and said, “Hey Jim, I’ve got a question. Tell me in detail about how you do your daily quiet time?” This is not the first time this question had been fired at me, but my answer this time was short and cryptic to be sure, “Oh Ralph, don’t go there, I don’t live my life based on the clock. I live my life based on my commitments.”
What is more interesting than what I just described is what transpired (concerning this event) “over breakfast”. “Ralph” turned to me between bites and said, “Do you know, Jim, what is the most important thing you ever said to me?” I responded, “I don’t have a clue.” He responded, “Remember when I stayed that night with you and Barbara and I asked you about your quiet time? And your answer was… commitments guide, not clocks. Remember that?” And I responded, “Ralph, I really don’t remember that, but I surely believe it to be true.” (I am known by family and friends not to remember good encouraging things I’ve said. I just say, if it is true, I probably said it “in the Spirit”. If it isn’t true, I simply say “I think you misunderstood me, because I don’t believe that to be true.” Life becomes more simple this way… one doesn’t have to remember what is said, if one speaks only what they believe to be true.)
What does it mean to live your life based on your commitments and not the clock? Let’s start with the latter. Since the days of Adam, man has been seeking to control, fix, set boundaries, rule, regulate, etc. to compensate for the loss of a relationship with His maker and to make life work. The “clock” is the perfect metaphor for this, perhaps man’s greatest invention. A clock keeps track of time precisely and is genuinely helpful in life. Children don’t wear watches; they just enjoy life. Adults need watches to “redeem the time”. So watches are not bad, mind you… but they keep track only of time… they don’t produce the life that is timeless. Only commitments do that… God to us first and us to God in response.
There are a lot of definitions for a good trekker/a good Christian. Christians are sinners growing out of their sin into the likeness of God by the power of His Spirit. That’s “my” favorite stab at definition. Another is… Christians are a people of love who live to glorify God! In relationship to God through Christ, they seek consciously to love God with all their heart, mind, and soul and their neighbor as themselves! (Mark 22:34-40). The life of a believer is consumed by His love, and in love, we seek to glorify Him in all we do. Glorifying God is the committed purpose of the life in Christ. (See I Corinthians 10:23-11:1 for good background on our freedom to live out our commitment, and also Colossians 3:12-17.)
Trekker, “clocks” (read the “law”) are indeed helpful in bringing us to truth. But they only “keep track”; they don’t empower – only commitments, purposefully and intentionally lived out daily, empower! The supreme commitment is God to us! He says in a thousand ways and tongues, I “love you.” Love is the essence of God and the sealant of our eternal relationship with Him, restored in the Son of man, Jesus the Christ. Through the empowerment of His Spirit, He desires us to say continually, “I love you… too!”
Living by commitment, His and ours, is freeing, exciting, rewarding and realistic! Recently another young Timothy emailed me and said, “Jim, what shall I do?” Two choices were before him, both good. “How is one to know?” I responded by encouraging my young friend to remember the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Whether you turn to the right or left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk ye in it.” (Isaiah 30:21, but read it in context vs 19-26)
Our commitment to listen and act is always in response to His unfailing presence moment by moment in the ordinary. Oh, trekker, God was present to Elijah constantly… “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord; for the Lord is about to pass by.” God is always present in the tornado and the earthquake and the fire. But He frequently speaks in the gentle whispers within, behind, alongside… always reassuring, guiding, etc. regardless of the details or circumstances. And that is why we seek “quiet time” as an essential, individual part of our commitment to Him.. to rest in Him, to read, to reflect, to respond in thanksgiving and praise and often, petitioning prayer… as well as rejoicing in Him always as we fall back, moment by moment, resting internally and eternally again, in Him alone.
Trekker, I suggest you have a reliable timepiece, a “success diary” and/or a “smart phone”. But as I said to Ralph… “don’t live by it.” Precise “clocks” can rob you of the “time of your life.”
Your friend,
Jim Meredith
