As a child of the 80’s, one of my favorite movie scenes is the attendance scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It begs a question for us: are you fully present? Are you really available to be who God has created you to be in each and every moment? Let me challenge you today with two Scriptures.
As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. Luke 18:35-43
Here Jesus is simply passing through Jericho. There is a big crowd and He has plenty of things to go. His disciples certainly don’t think He should be stopping to deal with blind beggars. Yet, Jesus is fully present. He sees a need, and stops to meet it. How many opportunities to bless others do we miss because we are focused on other things? I’m guessing many of us even miss opportunities to bless our wives and children because we are focused elsewhere. We need to adopt the mentality of Christ Jesus. We need to be fully aware of the world around us and the opportunities to make a difference. Are you fully present?
Here is the second Scripture:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
A Harvard study found that 47% of people are in one place physically, but another mentally. From what my eyes see every Sunday, this includes worship. Our bodies may be present at worship, but are our hearts, souls, and minds actually worshiping? Too often, I fear, we are more like Martha than Mary. We fill our lives with so many things (many of which are good), yet we don’t make time to be in God’s presence. We don’t make time to read His Word, to pray, or to be fully present in worship. As you go through your week, are you fully present? How can you better see the needs of others and act on your own need to be present before God?
