Watching out for “hurry”

It’s rarely a crisis that pulls us away from our deepest intentions. More often, it’s the back-to-back demands of a full life that slowly crowd out the things we care about most.

Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” (Colossians 3:23, NIV).

The problem is that even when we want to work with all our heart for God, the demands of a full life have a way of quietly putting this desire aside. In other words, it’s easy to forget.

Dallas Willard put his finger on it when he wrote: “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.”

Hurry: the steady accumulation of demands that slowly pushes aside the things that matter most.

The good news is that God is patient with our forgetfulness. He doesn’t shame us for drifting. He simply invites us back, again and again, to the truth we already know and love.

“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.”

Deuteronomy 4:9, NIV

Slowing down to remember,