HURRY, HURRY, HURRY
(A sequel to WAITING -- WAITING)

Since we are the busiest folk that have ever been, we must hurry to get it all done. So, in our rushing about, we overlook some things the Lord bound on us. Things such as kindness, gentleness, self-control, patience; all these summed up in"Love thy neighbor as thyself." In our hurried world we forget that we are to be in subjection to civil law. "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates ..." (Titus 3:1).

This is a truism we call "chimney-corner" scriptures: "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get."That's the way our life is. Hurrying doesn't help. We wear ourselves out and still stay behind because we are just too busy, and --- we have to wait a lot.

We sometimes lose sight of valuable Bible principles in our mad dash to accomplish whatever it is we're trying to accomplish. We pick up the phone and it, too, is busy and we are in a hurry. The second time we try, we lose our cool, our "gentle Christlike" nature, and condemn the phonees who would interfere with our hurried schedule. We hurry to the grocery store to stand in line while some poor old gray haired lady hunts for her checkbook, hunts for a pen, slowly writes her check in a shaky hand. Now our "Bible patience" is exhausted and we unleash our wrath (at least in mind) on someone of whose circumstances we are not aware.

Half the time the reason for our hurry is because we started a little late. We could have started a few minutes earlier, but we didn't, and now we suffer the consequences and blame someone else.

It's begun to rain -- enough to dampen our hurrying spirits. My traffic lane has slowed and I lose my "self-control." I join others in punching the horn button and mutter to myself and anyone else who is in earshot. The car in front of me has likewise lost control and zooms into the other lane and left me behind some poor fellow with hood uplifted and a bewildered look on his face. But my tortured, impatient spirit has completely taken leave of its control, so I give the poor soul a last withering look and burn rubber into the other lane to get out of the situation. What if I do have a "cell" phone that would take just a few of my precious minutes to use in his behalf? What has happened to the kind, gentle, patient Christian who would "do unto others as he would have them do unto him?"

In my hurried pace I have forgotten to "be in subjection to the higher powers, magistrates." I don't have time to fasten my seat belt; technically I run a red light because it was a little long in turning and I don't have time to wait for the next one; I slow a little, then cruise through a sign that reads STOP; I did not yield; I am over the speed limit; the school zone means nothing. All because I didn't start a few minutes earlier. All these little (?) things are contrary to what I have vowed to do and be. My kids riding with me see my disregard for these "little" things and learn my lesson of leaving late, disregarding laws and haranguing my fellow-man. They do it, too, and get into trouble.

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