Sermon Tone Analysis

Busyness

Recently as I was walking home from work I was thinking about all of the various tasks that I needed to get done, it had been a busy few weeks and I was feeling very overwhelmed with everything that I still needed to do.

I was working out mentally when I would get particular jobs done and what things needed prioritizing.

But as I walked along pondering all of this it suddenly dawned on me that not only was I planning out my schedule without giving consideration to my biggest responsibility but in actual fact in the midst of all the recent busyness I had already allowed myself to neglect something very important… my relationship with the Lord!

Now it’s not as though I had abandoned all thought of God, stopped going to church or even stopped all devotional time.

But simply as I got busy with one task and another there came a gradual decline in the time that I gave to the Lord in prayer and meditation.

Now it’s easy to make excuses when this happens, after all, everybody finds themselves in this situation at some time or another.

I could say “well I can’t help it, these things just need doing”, or “the Lord will have my full attention, just as soon as I get all this done”.

Some might even say that I am being over-dramatic, everyone gets busy and God understands, so just do what needs doing and give God just whatever time is left over, right?... Wrong!

Consider this; the scripture tells us that we battle against principalities and powers of spiritual wickedness (Eph 6:12), our enemy would just love to stop us from following the Lord and take us out of the spiritual battlefield.

Now what would be an effective and subtle way achieve this end?

Yes! You’ve guessed it, to so distract us and keep us occupied that we neglect the spiritual life that we are meant to be engaged in.

Recently as I was walking home from work I was thinking about all the various jobs that I needed to get done, I had been busy at work all day but there was still so much that I needed to get done and while many things did not seem like a big deal from the outset it is just tiring and energy sapping.

I had recently visited a favourite place of mine on the Dorset coast called ‘the Fleet’ but as lovely as it is there it is difficult walking because it has a long shingle bank where at every step your feet slip.

I thought to myself ‘this is like walking the Fleet, it looks simple at the start but half way down I’ll be wondering if it’s worth the effort’.

No sooner as this thought passed through my mind I remembered how there are ‘patches’ of solid ground right along the Fleet and when walking along the bank it always helps walk in the direction of the next patch of solid ground, it really is surprising how much easier it is when there is something solid to set foot on.

It occured to me that taking time out to be with our Lord, to pray and meditate on His word, is like putting our feet onto those solid patches of earth.

It’s the place where I can catch my breath and let my legs rest, however it never ceases to amaze me how in busyness of daily life how easy it can be to neglect time with God.

Now it’s not as though I had abandoned all thought of God, stopped going to church or even stopped all devotional time.

But simply as I got busy with one task and another there came a gradual decline in the time that I gave to the Lord in prayer and meditation.

Now it’s easy to make excuses when this happens, after all, everybody finds themselves in this situation at some time or another.

I could say “well I can’t help it, these things just need doing”, or “the Lord will have my full attention, just as soon as I get all this done”.

Some might even say that I am being over-dramatic, everyone gets busy and God understands, so just do what needs doing and give God just whatever time is left over, right?

Wrong!

Consider this; the scripture tells us that we battle against principalities and powers of spiritual wickedness, our enemy would just love to stop us from following the Lord and take us out of the spiritual battlefield.

Now what would be an effective and subtle way achieve this end?

Yes! You’ve guessed it, to so distract them and keep them occupied that they neglect the spiritual life that they are meant to be engaged in.

It has been said that “Busyness is the enemy of spirituality.

It is essentially laziness.

It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing.

It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions.”

Woah! That’s a difficult one to swallow!

But I must say that I understand the logic here, if I busy myself so much with temporal things that I neglect the eternal then my priorities are not in order.

It has been said that “Busyness is the enemy of spirituality.

It is essentially laziness.

It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing.

It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions.”

Woah! That’s a difficult one to swallow!

But I must say that I understand the logic here, if I busy myself so much with temporal things that I neglect the eternal then my priorities are not in order.

The busyness of this fast-paced culture is probably one of the biggest areas of concern in our Christian lives.

If we are not careful we can become too busy to love, too busy to share, too busy to care, too busy to pray.

The busyness of this fast-paced culture is probably one of the biggest areas of concern in our Christian lives.

If we are not careful we can become too busy to love, too busy to share, too busy to care, too busy to pray.

Recently as I was walking home from work I was running through in my mind all of the various tasks that I needed to get done, it had been a busy few weeks and I was feeling very overwhelmed with everything that I still needed to do.

I was working out mentally when I would get particular jobs done and what things needed prioritizing.

But as I walked along thinking about all of this I it suddenly dawned on me that not only was I planning out my schedule without giving consideration to my biggest responsibility but in actual fact in the midst of all the recent busyness I had allowed myself to neglect something very important… my relationship with the Lord!

We read about busyness in Luke Chapter 10 when Jesus came to the house of Mary and Martha.

Martha’s first concern was get the work done in serving their guest, whereas Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus, just wanting to hear what he was saying and spend time with him.

As Martha criticizes her sister for not helping, Jesus actually says: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” ()

We read about busyness in Luke Chapter 10 when Jesus came to the house of Mary and Martha.

Martha’s first concern was get the work done in serving their guest, whereas Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus, just wanting to hear what he was saying and spend time with him.

As Martha criticizes her sister for not helping, Jesus actually says: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” ()

Now it’s not as though I had abandoned all thought of God, stopped going to church or even stopped all devotional time.

But simply as I got busy with one task and another there came a gradual decline in the time that I gave to the Lord in prayer and meditation.

Now it’s easy to make excuses when this happens, after all, everybody finds themselves in this situation at some time or another, I could say “well I can’t help it, these things just need doing”, or “the Lord will have my full attention, just as soon as I get all this done”.

Some might even say that I am being over-dramatic, everyone gets busy and God understands, so just do what needs doing and give God just whatever time is left over, right?

Wrong!

Consider this, the scripture tells us that we battle against principalities and powers of spiritual wickedness, our enemy would just love to stop us from following the Lord and take us out of the spiritual battlefield.

Now what would be an effective and subtle way achieve this end?

Yes! You’ve guessed it, to so distract them and keep them occupied that they neglect the spiritual life that they are meant to be engaged in.

It has been said that “Busyness is the enemy of spirituality.

It is essentially laziness.

It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing.

It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions.”

Woah! That’s a difficult one to swallow!

But I must confess that I understand the logic here, if I busy myself so much with temporal things that I neglect the eternal then my priorities are not in order and I’m getting lazy!

The busyness of this fast-paced culture is probably one of the biggest areas of concern in our Christian lives.

If we are not careful we can become too busy to love, too busy to share, too busy to care, too busy to pray.

We read about busyness in Luke Chapter 10 when Jesus came to the house of Mary and Martha.

Martha’s first concern was get the work done in serving their guest, whereas Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus, just wanting to hear what he was saying and spend time with him.

As Martha criticizes her sister for not helping Jesus actually says “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” ()

When we stop what we are doing to spend time with Jesus we are not creating a delay, we are getting our priorities in the right order.

says ‘But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint’.

When we stop what we are doing to spend time with Jesus we are not creating a delay, we are getting our priorities in the right order.

says ‘But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint’.

When we stop what we are doing to spend time with Jesus we are not creating a delay, we are getting our priorities in the right order.

says 'But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint’.

So in actual fact as we take time to be with the Lord and nurture our closeness with Him, we are better prepared to face the day and we are more effective in all that we do.

When we take time out to be with the Lord and nurture our closeness with Him, we not only benefit our relationship with Him but we are in fact better prepared to face the day and are more effective in all that we do.

When we take time out to be with the Lord and nurture our closeness with Him, we not only benefit our relationship with Him but we are in fact better prepared to face the day and are more effective in all that we do.

So in reality, as we give ourselves the liberty to slow down and focus on the Lord, let’s be honest about the distractions that suround us and how we can use our time in a way that is most honouring to Him.

We all have unavoidable commitments so let’s no beat ourselves up about what we can’t help, but at the same time let’s give ourselves the liberty to slow down and focus on the Lord.

Let’s be honest about the distractions that surround us and how we can use our time in a way that is most honouring to Him.