Making Jesus the Lord of our Free Time
Free time is not a trivial matter. The activities we participate in during our moments of leisure shape our identity. In fact, the way we spend our free time reveals what we believe about God.
While leisure and rest are gifts from God, they can easily take the place of God in our lives. When leisure becomes our reason for living, it becomes a harsh task-master that blinds our vision so that we no longer see the danger in spending exorbitant amounts of money and time on nonstop entertainment. The problem is that we live in a world of constant entertainment. It may take form in the amount of time we spend watching TV, playing video games, or even taxiing our children around from one event to another. While independently and in moderation these things may not seem so bad, it's created a culture of busyness that is fragmenting relationships in communities and in families.
The Christian's life is not grounded in leisure; it's grounded in the cross. As we put leisure back in its proper place under the Lordship of Jesus, we will make different choices when it comes to our leisure activities. Here are three proactive steps that we can take as we start thinking about how we spend our leisure time:
- Think seriously about the choices we make regarding our free time.
- Purposefully structure our free time in a way that glorifies God.
- Turn our focus away from the things that entertain us and to the people that God has entrusted to us.
Excerpt modified from Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals by Trevin Wax.
