As I sit in my office and contemplate my life, I cannot believe how fast it is flying by.              

     In April I will be 61. How is that possible? The world around me is changing so rapidly I am finding it very difficult to keep up. My years have become months, my months have become days and my days have become...well you get the picture. It seems as though I am in some kind of time machine and someone has put it on autopilot set at warp speed. Do you feel it too?

     We are all living in a world of busyness, which only adds to our pain. We seem to be so caught up in our busy lifestyles that we don't have time to smell any roses much less enjoy them. What has happened to us? Why are our lives passing us by so fast? Why can't we stop the madness?

     I believe I have the answer and it is so very simple. We have forgotten what is really important! You want proof? o.k.;

     1) We have filled our lives with this world, not the Creator of this world.

     2) We have tried to love our families by buying them stuff not showing them by touch.

     3) We have made Church an activity not a lifestyle.

     4) We believe God loves us by what we do, not whose we are.

     5) We believe that no matter how much we have we deserve more.

     6) We do unto others before they do unto us.

     7) We believe our needs are more important than others needs.

     8) We believe love is conditional.

     9) We believe a little lie is not as bad as a big lie.

     10) We believe in political parties more than we believe in what is right and wrong.

     11) We believe our way is the right way.

     12) We believe it is all right to love one minute and curse the next.

     13) We believe youth is better than experience.

     14) We believe we will live forever.

     15) We believe being busy is the way life is supposed to be (although we created it).

     I could go on and on but I believe my point has been made. Our time is flying by and our stress level is off the chart because we have, as our Lord put it, forgotten our first love - which is Him! In Revelation 2:1-7 He says in verse 5, "Look how far you have fallen from your first love" (NLT). The really sad thing is that God is talking to the Church not the lost. We must make the most of what time we have left. Mack Davis wrote a song titled, "You've got to stop and smell the roses". That sounds like good advice to me.

     So are you one of those fast tracking, well-meaning, super busy Christians who have truly forgotten what is important? I think it's time to stop and smell God's roses, don't you? 

                                                                                      Pastor Mike Wiley