My family had a relaxing Saturday at the beach with the family for my husband's annual work picnic.
His company provided activities, food and fun all at their expense.
All they asked was for participants to make reservations and to cancel if attendance plans changed.
Oddly only half of the folks that reserved a spot actually came.
This meant that the cost per person to the company was double.

It amazes me that the appreciation for a gift is so low. Here we have someone (albeit it a profitable company) who is giving a gift, under no obligation to do so, for the enjoyment of the associate and their family. The company's only agenda is the happiness and morale of the associate. And yet the respect for the company (or probably anyone for that matter) is so low that they feel entitled to sign up for a ticket and then just decide that morning, "I think I won't go after all." 
One could make the argument that something came up that could not be avoided. And for a few that may have been the case. But not half.

That means almost half of the ticket holders are so selfish that their agenda is all that matters.

That reminds me of a biblical story. I think in that case the host just went out and got some street people to fill the vacancies.

The stories also reminds me of the Book of  Hebrews in the New Testament.
We have those that heard about Jesus, came to him in faith and followed Him with their lives, even to martyrdom. 
And those that heard with interest and yet did not put trust and faith in Him but merely agreed with the premise.
And of course those that heard and did not care at all.

See the parallel.
The ticket holders who came.
The ticket holders who did not come, something better came up.
And the guys that did not even sign up.

Which one are you?
Will you be entering His rest? Will it be too late to commit your life to Him? Or will you just ignore Him?
I had a ticket and I went, I ate, I swam, I went down the slide. I participated 
I have Jesus and I am going!



   

I attended a conference recently expecting nothing. I was being a team player. But I was pleasantly surprised and received a nice blessing from the leaders that were there. It's funny how sometimes, when we do what we may not want to do, or even need to do, but do it for others, or to be a part of others lives, or to be part of the team, that we are blessed in the process.

Which brings me to the idea of church life or being the Body of Christ. There are times when we get absolutely nothing out of it. But what if our time is not now, but another person's time is now, and we are to be a part of it for them?  What if we aren't "being fed"? What if we are there to feed? What if we haven't had anyone befriend us? Are we to befriend someone else instead?

I have gone for a couple of years with only two or three couples who have extended  invitations to lunch or dinner or anything. I have invited a couple of people who were too busy a couple of times. Oh, and they forgot to invite me back, so I wasn't sure if they were entirely interested. It seems they have all the friends they need. So, I suppose to protect myself from another rejection, I chose to stop asking. How many invitations should I have extended? One more? Two more?

And were those invitations to the ones that I thought I would enjoy being friends with? Maybe I should invite someone who I normally would not connect with. What if I am pleasantly surprised?  What if I do it for them and not for me? What if they became my very good friends?
Hmmmm?

Rather than chase after the people who reject us and who do not really want to be our friend maybe we should do as Jesus did and go to the ones who do. We may find them surprisingly enjoyable.
Christ built His church on those people. Hey................ wait................. I am one of those people. 

What if we tithed 10% of our time to the LORD like we give 10% of our money?
Hmmm, that would be 2 hours and 24 minutes every day set aside for communion with the God of Very God. Men, women and children setting aside 2 hours and 24 minutes every day to spend with GOD.
What would that mean?
What would we have to give up? A couple TV shows? A game on the Ipad? Facebook? Sleep? Housework? Work?
How much of our time do we waste when we think we have no time? Kind of like, how much of our money do we waste when we think we have no money?
When would we do it? Early morning? Late night? Lunch hour, plus breakfast time, plus break times? Drive times? Times when we would normally sleep in?
What would we do? Pray? Actually read the Bible? Hear the Bible on CD DVD Phone Aps? Write about the Lord to others, would that count?
.....What if we actually read the Bible? Not just a snippet here and there from a book that someone guided you through or a pamphlet that your church or religious order provides but what if you actually read it? Like someone was going to give you a test over what it said and you needed to pass that test.

Oh I know many of you have been told that the Bible was written by men. It was. Imperfect men. Just regular old guys like us. They say that they were inspired by the God of Very God who created the earth and the heavens.  Who told you it wasn't actually true? Wasn't it men that said that? Weren't they just imperfect men? Weren't they just regular guys like us? Who inspired them? Did they say?
Some say it contradicts itself. You really wouldn't know if that was true or false if you hadn't read it... fully...contextually...cover to cover.
What if it is like the rain in Florida? It can be raining and a block over not raining. So the person that didn't mow because it was raining may look like a liar to the guy looking at a sunny sky a mile over.
What if there are idioms and metaphors in there, like we use today. It doesn't really rain cats and dogs but we all know that means it rains really hard. But its still true that its raining very hard. And no one thought there were ever cats and dogs coming down out of that rain but everyone knows what you mean by that statement. That is why there are language scholars around to help you with those difficult passages. Is the real deal that we do not want to invest the time in trying to understand what we read?

What if the information in the Bible was a matter of life and death and contained the secrets to life here and now as well as eternal life or eternal death?  What if it even addressed the fate of those who want to ignore it or ignore GOD? Would it then be worth some if not a lot more of your time?

There is a currently lot of participation in the "Ice Bucket Challenge" to bring funds as well as awareness to research for ALS. A very  worthy cause. It is not a charity I personally give to because I give to others and frankly, I have limits to how much money and time I can give away.

What if there was a challenge to take God seriously?
Not just to fit Him in an hour a week. Not just throw a twenty in the plate. Not just pray when we are scared or in trouble. Not just talk about Him. Not just participate in our rituals in His name.
What if we needed Him and he did not need us but stooped down to be mindful of us?
What if there was a challenge to know who Jesus Christ really is?
What if you found out things were not what you thought?
What if it made you love God more or hate Him more?
What if the beliefs you have had are not correct?
What if they are?
Whatever at least you would be making an informed decision.

Does the thought of setting aside 2 hours and 24 minutes every single day make you a bit tense?
Does the thought of going to a movie make you tense? The movie lasts a couple hours. It takes about twenty minutes to get there and ten or fifteen minutes to get your treats and get seated.
Does the thought of playing a round of golf make you tense?
That's 4 hours not counting drive time.
No we don't play golf or watch a movie every single day.
So what if you began by 2 hours and twenty minutes a week and built from there.
Often when folks tithe their money they have to begin less and grow into a tithe as a goal. What if this worked the same way?

This challenge is not a legalistic one.
This challenge is one to examine ourselves.
Especially those who claim to be Christians.
But most especially to me.