A couple weeks ago, we were at a family potluck and I helped get a plate together for my 8 year old son. He went through that fairly quickly, ate another whole plate and had a little room left for desert. So maybe he is hitting a growth spurt? I was thinking back to when I ate the most, and remember going to some buffets when I was 12-15 years old and getting 3-4 plates of food before I was done. When you are a growing kid, multiple plates of food doesn’t seem too unreasonable, but would this be ok if it were every meal for me now? We don’t fill up full plates for every meal, because that is unhealthy, but try to find a better balance with just what we need. Is your plate ever too full now?
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10
How often do you ever take on a plate full of activities in your life that test the limits of what you are able to do? Maybe its at work and you are given an extra workload to help in someone’s absence. You may be able to keep up for a season, or a timeline with an end in sight, but you may grow weary of all the extra work if no change or relief is in sight. We may take on extra responsibilities for a time at home, with our hobbies or other volunteer activities as well. These are fine if we can keep up with everything, do a good job, get enough sleep, and find a good balance, but if we start sacrificing the things that we know are good for us, then we may be taking on too much, and should leave some things sitting on the buffet of life. Are there things in your life that you should be saying ‘no’ to and more of others you should be saying ‘yes’ to?
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Earlier this week, I had a chance to meet in person with several co-workers, including a few who are retiring, that I haven’t had a real conversation with in over a year. While I was giving up some time to get some things done at work, I realized the value of being able to relate to people as real human beings from time to time. I miss being able to set time aside to just sit and talk with people, and I take a look at my schedule and see what things I am prioritizing over these relationships, and then I can see my unbalanced meal with what I have in my plate. If we say we don’t have time to pray or get in the Word each day, we should take a look and see what we consider more important than time with God. Its often a wake-up call to me, and hopefully we can all make healthy changes that benefit us and others in the process. May you be able to put what you need on your plate each day and leave the rest for another time!
Jesus answered, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’. Matthew 4:4
Yours in Christ,
Clark
