I found some interesting web sites the other day that showed statistics on time. They talked about the time that we spend doing certain things in our lives and the average amount of time spent during the day on certain activities. For example if you took all of the time that the average American spends partying in his or her lifetime and combined it, you would get about 50 straight days. But that isn’t as much as the average person spends sitting in traffic, 60 days. We spend 125 days total in our lifetimes drinking coffee. And if you combined the time spent by the average person in meetings you would get 1.8 years.
If you look at it from an average day point of view you get more interesting tidbits. For example, for people age 75 and up, the average number of hours spend sleeping and grooming (personal care) is 10.18. The average time for a 45-54 year old spent caring for a household member is .56 hours, while the average time spent caring for non-household members is .15 hours (per day).
What do you think about this? Take a moment and think about how much time you spend on the following activities in your life:
Work
Family
Friends
Household activities
Leisure activities
Spiritual activities
Now think about biblical times. Shepherds, for instance, must have spent a large amount of time at work. And taking care of sheep was a big (and hard) business. This is mostly because sheep are not very bright. They have no natural defense against predators, and they often follow each other around even if the leader walks into danger. Being a shepherd was a full time job. That is probably why this passage from Luke is so interesting.
Luke 2:8-20
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Have you ever asked yourself who was taking care of the sheep? It doesn’t appear that anyone was after the shepherds went to see the Christ child. The work was simply dropped. I was in the mall recently and saw a kiosk with calendars for sale, but when I tried to buy one I noticed there was no one minding the store. Anyone could have taken what they wanted. This is not a good business plan.
What about Magi/Wise Men? What does their visit say about their priorities? Their journey took a long time. They left behind friends, family, work parents, etc. Their lives were put on hold while they made their visit.
And that is not all. The gospels are full of stories about people shifting their priorities. We get the same kind of story with fishermen.
Luke 5:8-11
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Like shepherds, fishermen spent a lot of time at work. It was their life. Yet here we have a story of fishermen dropping everything to follow Jesus.
The theme of Jesus’ ministry is often expressed as an account of priorities. Jesus asks us to make sure our priorities are in the right place. He had no issues with those whose priorities were kindness, charity, and goodwill. He had a lot of issues with those whose priorities where selflessness, money, and the law for its own sake.
What can the Christmas story teach us about priorities in our life? What does it mean to drop everything and follow Jesus? This Christmas (and beyond) let’s see what we can learn from the shepherds, wise men, and fishermen. The people who saw Jesus as the best use of their time and energy.
God Bless