Greetings Friends,
I’m trying to get back to the deeper things, my marriage, my family, my ministry,
my life. With all the wonderful things technology has done, it’s also created a
modern myth we like to believe. It’s the idea that cell phones, tablets, and
wi-fi have only made our lives better.
While I appreciate the convenience and ease technology has brought to many daily
tasks, I do wonder at how much harder it is to find any real depth in
relationships. In a world that puts the ultimate premiums on speed – the pace
of one’s life, and breadth – the broad scope of one’s knowledge, there’s no
time to know and be fully known by another.
Where is the place to go slow and deep? “Be still and know that I am God” can’t be
reformatted to a handy 4G app for my smart phone so I can access it on my way
to work.
We talk about prayer as an essential part of the Christian life. Yet too often my
prayer life consists of a monologue I deliver to God. I speed read through my One
Year Bible readings, thinking I need to finish the fifteen minute portion of
Scripture in ten or less.
I love Eugene Peterson’s translation of Matthew 11:28-30:
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Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
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If we are going to grab onto the John 10:10 abundant life Jesus wants us to have,
then there are some essentials which just can’t be rushed. A rich, mature faith
can’t be grown in five and ten minute segments of time.
One of the speakers at Promise Keepers last weekend quoted these statistics: an
average person has a total of two hours of interruptions a day; on average we
are interrupted every eleven minutes; it takes us twenty five minutes to get
back to the level of deep thought.
It’s no surprise our culture is so shallow. But followers of Jesus Christ are called
to live a different way.
As the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 1:3, those who slow down their lives in order to
be with God are planting their lives by rivers of living water. In due season,
not instantly, they will see everything in their lives prosper.
So my willingness to go slow and go deep not only allows a greater intimacy in my
most important relationships (ie. with my Lord, my spouse, and my family), but
it also creates a channel for blessing to come to them through my life.
Beloved,I ask you to take a moment and consider your own life. Are you living in the
shallows? Have you forgotten what it’s like to disconnect from the immediate
and dive into the deep places of the spirit? Or maybe what I’m saying sounds
strange because you’ve never had the experience of going deep.
There is no substitute for what’s required, that is large quantities of quality
(uninterrupted) time. It’s not easy to do, and many things, even good things,
will come to pull you back into the shallows. But I know one thing, that our
God is true to his promise and will give us our heart’s desire.
So if you feel like I do, and know you need to launch out into the deep, then join
me in praying the following words:
O God, please help me to wear out the pause button on my life, so I can once
again find the deep places with you. I’m desperate because it’s a matter of
life and death.