A Challenge

January 24, 2011

By Pinky Joy

 I went to Missions Connection over the weekend in Portland. It was a wonderful time of learning, growth, and fellowship with missions-minded, God-seeking people. We had speakers from around the world that spoke to an audience of about a thousand people. It was Saturday morning and I was tired and not fully paying attention as this tiny little Asian man got up on stage to speak. His name was Dr. Daniel Oh and he holds degrees in Thermal Engineering, a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology, and a Doctor of Ministry. Dr. Oh began to share and he was talking about Moses and about Bible this and that as I tried to write down my notes from the night before in my journal, still paying only partial attention. Then he began to tell a story of a chain of events starting in prayer for people to be called to missions, then some went, and in North Korea someone was touched, this Korean man went out and ministered, then he gave his life for Christ, he was martyred. There was a silence, “that Korean man was my grandfather” Dr. Oh said. I was paying attention now. He went on to say how he and his family had become missionaries to Indonesia and how today he and his family still serve. Three of his four kids are missionaries all over the world, he and his wife are still very active in ministry, it was amazing! What a legacy and a divine chain of events that led him there to talk to that church full of a thousand people. He shared about Moses and went on about the challenges and how God overcame them, sending Moses to minister to His people. But through all this one thing stands out in my head far above all the rest. Dr. Daniel Oh said to immerse, to saturate yourself in the Word. Dr. Oh said that he personally spends at least four hours a day in the word… Think about that for a moment. 

Now every single one of us can say “well there is no way I have time to spend four hours reading, I have lots to do.” It’s not practical in our world; it’s an extreme to spend that much time on anything spiritual or eternal. The average Christian spends an hour and a half in church weekly, possibly double that with a Bible Study or a volunteer position at the church, that’s around four hours a week and that even we often postpone or skip or not appreciate. But it’s not about the time necessarily it’s about the priorities. If work is on the top of the list that comes first, if family is that does, if self is, that comes first. It’s what we prioritize that we make time for; it doesn’t have to do with the clock. Now I’m not saying that all of us should dive into the Bible four hours every day, most of us can’t pay attention that long as is. Here is what I was challenged by.  Matthew 7:7-8 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will fine. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” NLT Dr. Oh wanted to know God and God’s will and to be filled with God’s love, direction, and purpose. He went and sought God through His word. He wanted to know more about God and His nature and so he acted on that by seeking Him out in His word, four hours a day, saturating his life with the words God spoke to us! This also reminded me of my little brother and James 1:5 “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.” My brother asked for wisdom but not only did he ask but he looked in the Bible for that wisdom, in proverbs. He read a chapter of proverbs every day, month after month, he’s been doing this for around two years now, reading it once a month, that’s twenty-four times in two years! He asked God for wisdom and he sought it out, he investing in finding wisdom, he acted on his prayer, he sought God through His word and God answered his prayer in abundance, and my brother continues to seek God’s wisdom. This then reminds me about planting and reaping, if you put a small amount of seed in your garden, your crop will be small, if you plant a lard portion of field you harvest will be bigger! The small garden is probably a lot less work than the whole field, but the harvest that comes from the field is much larger than the garden. If we invest in growing in the Lord and serving Him and becoming more like Him, if we plant a harvest for eternity rather than the fleeting things of this world, imagine the vastness and beauty and quality of that harvest. It’s what we invest that will return to us. If we invest in things, for example, we will find a way to get lots of things, if we invest in people, we will have lots of relationships and connection with people, if we invest in the Lord, WOW just imagine! Galatians 6:7-8 “A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” NIV

Four hours, that’s a lot of time. But imagine if your training for something, a race, a job, about anything, you could easily spend four hours a day in that area. If you’re In school, or training for a sport, or developing a skill, four hours a day is a dedicated sacrifice to accomplish that goal. Most of us spend up to four hours a day on unproductive things, television, shopping,  video games.  Hebrews 12:1-2 “ let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” We are running to win! No second place, no barely making it, we want to train and pursue and strive for the Kingdom of God, living for things far beyond this world! Training and running to win! I want to run to win, that I will be a faithful servant of the Most High God! So this has been my challenge, investing and training in the things of God, in seeking Him in a passionate way. Not letting anything weigh me down, to invest in things of eternity while I am here on this earth. I pose this challenge to you as well, how can you better seek God and invest in eternity? I will be honest I don’t know if I’ll ever read the Bible fours a day, but if I do I’ll have to work up to that, exercise and strengthen that muscle. I do want to invest more time and energy and heart in knowing the heart of God! I want to see God in the Word and I want to pray with power for all people!

As always, thank you letting share! :)