“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…" Ephesians 1:15-20

In this prayer, Paul is praying that the believers in Ephesus would gaze upon the glory of Jesus, and as they ponder the blessings found in him, they would:

→ realize the depth of the hope that is ours

→ rejoice in the glorious inheritance in Christ

→ requisition the immeasurable greatness that is ours in Christ

The Problem of Business and Distraction

“…the social media ecosystem is designed to generate constant, instantaneous responses to the provocation of the now.” Alan Jacobs, The Guardian 

“We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has the time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn’t He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back? There are no fallow lands for our emotions to lie down and rest in.” Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

“Margin is the space between our load and our limits.” Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

Steps to living with a spirit of wisdom with hearts enlightened:

1. Understand the brevity of life.

"The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away." Psalm 90:10

2. Christians who embrace stewardship understand investing in eternity.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next… It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 134

3. We continuously ask: what am I “called to do and be” as a good steward of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10-11).

4. How do we practically seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and set our hearts and minds on things that are above (Colossians 3:1-2)?

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Colossians 3:1-2

APPLICATION:

1. Engage in a Worship Service, Weekly

2. Connect in a Group, Consistently

3. Serve on a Team, Monthly

4. Take a Class, Routinely

RESOURCES:

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Richard A. Swenson

The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live Within Your Limits by Richard A. Swenson

Contentment: The Secret to a Lasting Calm by Richard A. Swenson

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs