Plan to Be Careless

Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:10 NIV)

In a world that keeps telling us that we need to be more and more and more efficient, it is a joy to hear God command us to not be too efficient.  Being too efficient leaves others out.  When airlines fill every single seat, those on standby are left standing by.  When bread companies make exactly enough bread for those who can afford to buy it fresh, the more affordable day-old stores go empty. When every minute of our day is planned, we don't leave room for the Holy Spirit to bless others through us.  God WANTS us to be a little careless!

I remember as a child when my parents were facing a longer than usual period of no money and six kids to feed.  They found $60 cash in a parking lot (like finding $200 or more in today's cash).  What a blessing for us that someone was careless.  To this day, when I am careless and lose something valuable, I comfort myself by believing that someone found it who needed it as badly as my parents needed that $60.

But I believe the thing we need to especially be careful about holding onto too tightly is our time.  When we schedule every hour of every day, we leave no room for the Holy Spirit to inspire us or act through us.  We don't feel that gentle prodding because we are too focused on what we need to do next.  We miss so many opportunities to be Jesus to someone because we are too busy with the next "important" activity.

Slow down.  Pay attention to what is going on around you.  Could you ease the burden of someone around you?  Could you add a little joy to the life of someone you would otherwise simply pass by?  Life is not about filling up the hours.  Life is about relationships... even our relationships with people we have never met.

Plan to be a little careless today... with your money or your time or your belongings.  Someone will surely be blessed by it.

Father,
You certainly want us to be good stewards, but that also means a little planned carelessness as we also take care of one another.  Help us to be especially mindful of being too efficient with our time, so that we may allow your Holy Spirit to work through us.  Amen.

Joys:  a week filled with a wedding, family time, lots of one-on-one with Emma; time with a friend; back to devotion time after over a week without.