"What Time Is It?"

It seems the question asked by so many people in our culture today is, “What time is it?” We are always “running out of time” and wondering with what’s left, "How can we squeeze in just a few more tasks before the next deadline?" We are so rushed with the pressures of life that we run around like the proverbial “chicken with its head cut off.” Life has become a 24/7 operation. People are always connected, unless they make an intentional decision to disconnect from their ever-connected world. Then, when in the state of "disconnection," they go through a withdrawal that might make them appear anxious, restless, or irritated.

In this perpetual state of "connectedness," we not only feel busy, we are busy with additional tasks, responses, and mental processing. We are rushed, so we abbreviate messages. We are pressured, so we manage people rather than relate to them. We are preoccupied, so some decisions are made more by emotion than by processing relevant data. We feel pressed into the agendas of others that have such free access to our lives any time they want to connect to us.

So much of Jesus' life was pressured by others too. He was so connected to people that Mark 6:31 said, “there were so many coming and going that they [the disciples] did not even have time to eat.” So Jesus invited the disciples to “disconnect” with him, saying, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” He “pulled the plug” on the opportunities to minister and “departed to a deserted place in a boat by themselves” (Mark 6:32). Jesus knew the nature of his creation, the frailties of those he called, and the personalities of those he loved. He concluded what they needed was “down time.” He did not want them connected to anything but him – thus the spiritual retreat.

Jesus made his decisions about his time with discernment. Often he said, “It is not time.” His doubting brothers said he should promote himself. He replied, “My time has not yet come… You go up to this feast. I am not yet going… for my time has not yet fully come.” (John 7:6-8). He was not letting people set his agenda because his life’s mission was “I do not seek my own will but the will of my Father who sent me” (John 5:30).

Time was invested by Jesus, not just used up. In the busyness of life he made time for fellowship with his Heavenly Father by “rising a long time before daylight, He went to a deserted place; and there he prayed” (Mark 1:32). Even in this setting he was pressured to engage in the agenda of others – “everyone is looking for you” (Mark1:37). However, his purpose for coming trumped the aspirations of others as he responded, “Let us go to the next towns that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come” (Mark 1:38). He lived to fulfill the mission God had for him – not that which others would impose upon him.

May we be carful to consider who is in control of our time. What should be our answer to the question, “What time is it?” If Christ is our model then the answer would be, “It is time to do the Father’s will and not be driven by the pressures and the aspirations of others." This may alter how we invest time and how we please or displease others.