It seems like time is speeding up these days.  And today everything moves so fast that the day is over before you know it, and at the end of the day half of the stuff you meant to do is left for another day because there just wasn’t time to do it all.  Is it any wonder then why so many say “I’d really like to spend more time with the LORD, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.” In my youth, there was always time to not only get all my work done, but have time to have fun, plus help a neighbor in need if necessary. The last time I checked, there were still 24 hours in a day, but it’s what we do with those 24 hours that makes a difference.

There are a couple simple solutions for “not enough time”:  one is to make a list of everything you need to do today, then go through and ask yourself, If the world ended today and this didn’t get done, would it matter? That would eliminate a good part of your list, and you’d free up a large part of your day.  But this second solution is the best, and is actually the solution to ALL our problems.  Jesus was speaking to His disciples and the multitudes following, and is speaking to us today just as much, as He said in Matthew 6:9-34, and I’ll add my comments.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
We think like people, and God said His ways are higher than our ways.  We need to stop focusing on “our way”, for all it gets us is problems, wars, and strife.  God has the right way for us to live, and we’ve proven over and over, our way is not the right way.  Just look around.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.
God knows our needs far better than we do.  We NEED food and our living, but do we NEED that new car or new TV?
Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
OUCH!  That means God forgives us with the same measure we use to forgive others. Note the word “AS”.   If you freely forgive, you are freely forgiven.  And if you don’t forgive others, need I say more?

Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
This really stood out to me today, “And lead us not into temptation”.  God never tempts anyone, but we are led astray by our own desires and lusts, and we so often listen to our own desires, that we shut out God altogether, that is, until the bottom falls out of our bucket, THEN we will call upon Him.  Seeking our own way leads us away from God, and leaves us out there as easy pickings for the devil and his crew.

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Being Jesus made mention of this issue twice, we’d better pay close attention!

Mat 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Mat 6:18  That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Remember we were talking about “TIME”?  What are YOU spending your time to accomplish?  Are your efforts aimed at a closer relationship with God?  Or are you trying to keep up with what the world urges everyone to do….GET, GET, GET?

Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
We spend WAY too much time seeking things that don’t matter in the light of eternity.  The simple solution to all our problems is this next verse.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Notice Jesus didn’t say if you seek Him first, everything else would be taken away from you.  No, He said these things you have need of will be ADDED unto you.  The point is, all the world seeks to do things their way, having no knowledge of the big picture, and how we all relate to one another in that big picture.  The world’s way is to get and gain advantage over other people, so as to get riches.  God can provide us with our needs in a far better way that doesn’t hurt or disadvantage others.  But we are so busy we don’t have time to seek His way, aren’t we?   And how many seek God for selfish reasons, not really wanting to serve God, but only to take advantage of His mercy and goodness for personal gain?  You can fool people, but you can’t fool God.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Now, am I saying just throw up your hands and do nothing?  No, God doesn’t expect you to sit home in your recliner watching TV when you should be out working.  But the heart of the matter is, instead of spending all your time seeking your solution, you will have a much more peaceful life if you make God your priority each day and ask HIM what HE wants you to do today, and do that every day.

So many today are living in the “FAST LANE”, missing out on the peace of God, and the joy of knowing and serving Him.  And there are those who are living in the “LUKEWARM LANE”, who spend what they consider the minimum daily requirement of time seeking God, saying their rushed prayers and reading a token verse or two from their Bible when they “get time”. They are deceiving themselves and they are in far worse shape than those living in the FAST LANE, for the FAST LANE people can get tired of the pressure and take the nearest exit that leads to Jesus, and get their lives in order, and find peace and joy in Christ Jesus, no matter what the circumstances.  But those in the LUKEWARM LANE just bumble down life’s highway THINKING they’re on the right route, but never really growing or getting anywhere with God.  And it isn’t just the “here and now” that is the problem:  the REAL problem hits when they die and hear the Lord Jesus say, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Lord Jesus gives us sound advice for today and for the future.  If upon honest examination of your life you find you are not where you want to be with the LORD, there is a solution, but you must not let the devil talk you into complacency. With every problem, God has a solution, not just A solution, but THE solution.  Stop beating your head against the wall and seek God with everything in you.  For in 10,000 years from now, all the work you did to attain riches, houses, cars, and money, will all be gone.  The only thing that will matter is your relationship with Christ Jesus.  Jesus warns the “LUKEWARM” because He doesn’t want them to be lost. He is offering them the solution to all their problems.

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Now, if you aren’t living in the LUKEWARM LANE, you most likely know someone who is.  They need to see this article.  You might be saying, “Well, I’m no preacher”. That’s fine.  You can print this off and hand it to them, can’t you?  In doing so, you are showing the love of God for that person and perhaps saving a soul from hell.  And that’s what it’s all about, right?  Time is passing quickly, and we never know how much more we have left.  The best way we can spend it is working for the Kingdom of God.  And don’t worry about how much time you use up from your day seeking God.  He has your back, and His goal is spending eternity with YOU!