So the full title of this entry was going to be In A Baskin Robins World, Be a Chick-Fil-A. However, that was a rather lengthy title, so I tried to shorten it a little. But what exactly am I talking about? What is Baskin Robins known for? Their 31 flavors. What is Chick-Fil-A known for? Chicken. Any clearer yet? What I mean is also captured in an old saying. That saying is this, “jack of all trades, master of none.” My point in saying be a Chick-Fil-A is this, be a master of one thing instead of being a jack of many trades.
Matthew 6:33 says, “seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Have you ever said something along the lines of “my schedule is out of control? Or “there aren’t enough hours in the day.” What would your day look like if you aligned your schedule around seeking God? No I’m not saying quit your job, hole yourself up in your house and do nothing but read the Bible and pray. What I’m saying is what Stephen Covey in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, said, “put first things first.” Be intentional about scheduling time with God. Get into His Word and spend some time praying. Then do the difficult task of listening for His response. The reality of Matthew 6:33 is that if we make our life’s goal the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He has promised that He will take care of all of our needs. We need to re-orient our thinking. So many times our time with God is an after thought or something that is put in the pile of “if I have time I will.” It is time that is on our to-do list. But what if seeking God was our list? What if before we put something on our calendar or agreed to do something we asked and answered the question, how will doing this help me grow closer to God or tell others about God? When we begin to think that way, it will radically shift how we approach our day. Instead of we need to get up and go to work so that we can make money to pay our bills. Now, we are getting up going to work with the mindset of, God has given me this job so that I can honor Him by how I work for my boss, interact with my co-workers, and I can share the Gospel with my co-workers and invite them to church. Now work has has a redemptive purpose! Or when we are dreading having to cart the kids all around town to various activities. We can understand that, I will have time in the car with my kids and I can talk to them about God, and invest myself in their lives. Then while I’m at practice I can see it as a God-given opportunity to talk with other parents about who Jesus is, share the Gospel, and invite them to church. Now, kids practices have a redemptive purpose! The same thing can be said for our time at the grocery store. Instead of looking at the long check out lines as an inconvenience. See it as an opportunity to talk with the person in front of you or behind you about Jesus and invite them to church. Or what about everyone’s favorite, going to the DMV? If there has ever been an opportunity to share the Gospel or invite people to church, it is at the DMV! I mean, we know we are going to be there for a while :). I think you get the point. If we allow God to change our mindset on how we see our everyday activities from they are something I have to do, to something I get to do to know God more and make Him known; then I believe our attitude and outlook on life will be radically changed.
So I want to encourage you this week to look at every opportunity you have from a kingdom of God mindset. Then let’s do what Paul said in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk (live)–not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Let’s be a Chick-fil-A this week and focus on one thing, the kingdom of God.
Pastor Justin