Your Daily Devotional for July 20, 2007

 

July 20,  2007

 

 

Retaining Balance

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

 

Ephesians 5:14-16

 

 

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies."

 

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

 

Sometimes we can get "strung up" like that bow. We can become so involved with working, serving, and providing, that we fail to spend time with our families and our Lord. Many people in today's world neglect time with their families in order to make more money to provide for their families! It defeats the purpose of providing for our families if we never spend time with them! God desires that we would balance time at work with time with our families.

 

As we see in our verses today, we must redeem the time we have on earth. We do not have to neglect our families in order to provide for them! He desires that we would balance these two important areas of our lives. There are some ways we can tell if we are out of balance in our lives.

 

We can tell we are out of balance if we are experiencing fatigue. There is nothing wrong with working hard and feeling tired, but when we are constantly fatigued to the point that we do not have the energy to spend time with our families, we need to balance our lives. Proverbs 23:4 says, "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom." The word labour in that verse speaks of wearing yourself out. We should not wear ourselves out by working to gain riches! God desires that we would have enough time and energy to spend with our families.

 

We can also tell we are out of balance when we are dissatisfied. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity." When we love money to the point that we must work more to get more money, we need balance. We must work hard to provide for our families, but not to the point that we neglect spending time with them.

 

God gave us the families we have and He desires that we would spend time with them and cultivate godly relationships in our home. We cannot spend time with them if we are constantly fatigued or dissatisfied. We must ask God to help us balance our lives.

 

Are you spending quality time with your family? God desires that we would work hard, but not at the expense of our families. Determine right now to spend quality time with your family today. What is more important to you—money or your family? Ask God to help you balance your life.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 26-28 • Acts 22

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