By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Are you in a hurry?  Do you find yourself always rushing to get somewhere for something with someone somehow?  I photographed this sundial on the side of an 800 year old cathedral in the little city of Chartres, France, a couple of years ago.  In our churches these days, a clock on the back wall can make some folks nervous — or maybe I should say a lack of clock or time piece will make some folks nervous.

We live our lives in such a hurry that we can’t even sit still for a church worship service without checking to see how much time we have to make it to the all-you-can-eat buffet before the neighboring church folks get there.

It just so happens that we had a service of a different kind at our church yesterday morning with a concert by an awesome group.  No one cared that we went thirty minutes longer than usual, because we were all worshiping as we should.

Imagine a place where a sundial is good enough for timekeeping.  No clock or wristwatch to count the hours and seconds.  Just a sundial pointing us to the nearest hour.  No worries.  Just all the time in the world to live the lives we are called to live as children of God.

Can I challenge each one of us to forget what time it is this week?  Pay less attention to the rush of “how-can-I-possibly-get-it-done-in-time” and focus more on the hour at hand, knowing we are not promised another moment.  You have all the time in the world — the same 24 hours a day that everyone else has.  Use it wisely this week.  The very thought that someone who needed to see the love of God in us, but didn’t because we were too rushed to slow down and talk, ought to be motivation enough to ignore the sundial even.

May God bless your time this week.  But may you be an even bigger blessing to Him through the time He gives you – one moment at a time.