“1 The Elder:
To my dear friend Gaius: I love you in the truth.
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually. 3 For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified to your faithfulness to the truth — how you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
3 John 1:1-4
—

We hear people, adults and children alike, say they’re ‘bored’ a lot in life. In our western culture, we don’t know what to do with ‘own time’ or ‘quiet time’ in between activities. We feel the need to always be on the move because being busy means you are important, people who are not busy are not important. People who are rushing from one activity to another must have something good going on in their life because they are constantly in demand, they must have valuable skills or a mind worth sharing. So, being ‘bored’ indicates that we are lacking something of apparent substance for a moment in our life, we cannot find the intrinsic value inn the moment itself, or to have our wits about us enough to take advantage of that down time to reflect on what has happened lately, and what is yet to come. But again, we do not like to take time to examine our thoughts or our actions, lest we find something lacking in our character, behavior or in the quality of the activities that we have been engaged in. We place so much value in being busy that we do not consider the quality of the activities that are occupying so much of our time. And when we meditate on those activities, then we are also forced to think about those people that we have been spending time with in the process of our busyness. And when everything is said and done at the end of the day, we busy our mind with needless ‘entertainment’ to let our mind be diverted from the day’s activities and we neglect to truly reflect on what matters.

The reality of what makes life valuable is not how busy we are. And if we will be honest with ourselves, we will admit quite frankly that all the busyness doesn’t add an iota of joy to our hearts. When we are being honest, we will admit to people just how exhausting that busyness is, and how much we need a break or a vacation or just ….something else to take place other than what we have been manufacturing for ourselves. But even then, we often to do not place the blame on our own shoulders for a lack of scheduling acumen, but rather we blame the busyness for the busyness. “I’m just so busy because I have so much to do.” or something along those lines. And we refuse to acknowledge that our life lacks substance like a box that is full of packing peanuts still lacks and content of substance. It’s full, but not with anything of consequence.

When we look at passages like John’s 3rd letter contains, we see what fills his life, his heart and what really brings him joy. He doesn’t confess that his joy comes from going to X number of appointments today, or from counseling sessions booked from 10am-4pm or from some church bake sale that comes later on in the day that he is still scrambling to get things together for…no. His joy comes from his ‘children’ his progeny in the faith. Those who have come to Christ and have grown in Him under John’s tutelage and under his discipling hand. These that he has slowed down and invested his time in? These are the moments that matter, this is what fills his life. Not speed, not taking one group of disciples to soccer practice, and another to gymnastics, and rushing to the grocery in between, just trying to get errands completed. It’s not from the copious business team meetings and planning sessions with ministry team heads that his satisfaction comes from. It’s from the people, from quality time spent with people, developing relationships, doing life with them and watching them grow in Christ. There is GREAT joy in seeing people grow in Christ, to take new steps of faith, and if we are busying ourselves with things other than what we find given to us in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, then we are busying ourselves with things that fill time like packing peanuts fill a box. It’s fluff, but of no consequence. If we will, instead, flood our hearts and minds with the things and activities that reflect Christ, investing in others an growing the kingdom, it is then we can look back at the end of the day and rest contently, not in what we have accomplished, but in what God is doing in them. Becuase, as in everything, it’s not about us, it’s not about creating praise or joy from our own selves, our own efforts. It’s all about giving God glory by doing things that are worthwhile to God. We honor God with our time and effort by doing things that He has commanded us to do. It is in our obedience to Him that we get to look back at the lives of -other people- and see what God has been doing in them, and in those moments?

Pure joy.

GoLove others today, and experience joy by your investment in the Kingdom and in your glorification of God over all else.