How do we balance our busy lives with the need to be "in the moment"? What I mean is, for most of us, we have our plates full: we've got to go to work, go to school, go to practice, go to the grocery store, go to church, go visit family, go_______________________ (you fill in the blank). In other words, we are frequently on the go, running at full tilt. Yet we know there is more to life than just forward motion. To be in the moment (to use a popular phrase) is to make the most of each experience of the day, to be fully engaged and present in each moment and to use it profitably. But what does that mean? Some old timers might say, "being in the moment was the "good of days" when we just stayed at home, sat on the front porch and shelled peas every night! We didn't' have to go all those places like you young folks today" (ouch!). Well, that may be, but it doesn't help us in our present world.

So what is the answer? Well, we certainly do need to listen to the old timers and put some limitations on ourselves. It is not healthy to over commit so that we have no quiet moments where we can just be still and enjoy the peace of being at home, reading our Bibles and praying. But to resolve this crisis (and I do mean crisis), we must look again to Jesus. Was He busy? Absolutely! In fact, he was so busy it makes us tired just watching Him as He went from place to place. Jesus did not recommend that we become stagnant, and do nothing. Yet, somehow, as busy as He was, He had the most well ordered life of anyone who has ever lived. His life was highly productive (by God's standards), but it was not a rat race where He was stressed, taxed, and scattered - running so constantly that He could not be fully engaged in each moment. To the contrary, Jesus seems to be consummately present in each episode and made the most of every moment - HOW DID HE DO IT?

It is really quite simple. Jesus was able to be in the moment, because He constantly kept at the forefront of His mind the very purpose for which he was sent - to do the will of His Father! Over and over he said, "I did not come to do my will, but the will of the one who sent me" (John 6:38). If we had a day or, better yet, a few years to just follow along behind Jesus (as his apostles did) we would see Him ultimately doing one single solitary thing - fearing God and keeping His commandments. We would see Him sitting by a well exhausted from a long trip yet talking to a Samaritan woman about living water (John 4). But not only teaching - He lived the whole gamut of the commandments. We would note that when children came to Him, He would stop and take time for them (Mt 19:14). When a blind man called out to Him, He went over to see what He could do (Mk 10). When His opponents slung mud at Him, He refused to sling it back (1 Peter 2:23-24). When Lazarus died - we would see Him weep (John 11). For our Lord, at every single moment of His life the thing that mattered most of all was that He glorified His Father by doing His will. Should that not be true for us as well? Think of how clearly that puts our lives in order and gives each moment new and significant meaning. Think of how different that would make our day if we could just believe that only one single solitary thing that matters at any point in time - that we do the will of our Father.

Now, when I said Jesus' life was highly productive, I was not saying that is how His society judged His life. And I am not saying that if we make His purpose our purpose that our society will judge us as highly productive either. In fact, the majority saw Jesus and still see Him as a failure - what did He invent? What company did He start or manage? How many things could He do at once (i.e. could he multi-task)? What does He have to show for His work? How many followers did He end up with (how big was His church)? Our world's measure of success is largely based on materialistic, carnal values. So if we let our society determine for us what a productive life is, then we can expect to merely compete in the rat race along with all the rest. But if we adopt Jesus' sense of what is most important it will not only make our lives infinitely more meaningful, it may just cause us to enjoy life more. The most important thing is, that at the end of our life we can say to our Father what Jesus said - "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work Thou hast given Me to do" (John 17:4), And folks - that is all that matters.

Mike