Scripture & Thought
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
We are all captives to TIME (not the magazine). In fact, a couple weekends ago marked the “change” in time that affects nearly all North Americans. We had to set our time pieces back one hour. They call it “Daylight Saving Time.” Of course, we know we are not saving anything. We are just postponing nightfall by an hour!
In James Dobson’s excellent little book, Coming Home – Timeless Wisdom for Families, he writes about one of life’s simple principles that every church leader and parent should put into practice. He calls it, “The First Five Minutes.” It is a principle that applies to parents, teachers, pastors, counselors, husbands and wives, managers – in fact, everyone who relates to other people.
Briefly, the principle is this: “Every relationship you have with individuals or groups is influenced by the first five minutes you spend with them.”
Dobson says that in the family setting, the first five minutes of a morning “determine how a mother will interact with her children” for the balance of the day. Yelling at one another will set the stage for a day of dysfunction. And when a husband arrives home from work at day’s end, “the way he greets his wife will influence their interaction throughout the evening.” The way we begin the day will determine whether or not the day will be productive. A positive beginning will usually lead to a positive ending.
Consider the ways Jesus spent the first moments just prior to performing his miracles. Do you remember the first words he spoke to the paralyzed man at the Bethesda Pool in John 5? The man had been lying at poolside for 38 years! A lifetime! The man believed that periodically an “angel of the Lord” came and “disturbed” the water, and that the first person to enter the water at that exact moment would be healed.
Jesus didn’t ask the man his name or where he was from. He perceived that the man had been sick for a very long time. He asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The man answered the question with an excuse: “I can’t! For I have no one to help me into the pool.” Jesus cut through the excuse and simply said to the man, “Stand up, roll up your mat and go home!” Instantly, the man was healed, and he stood up, and began walking. Five minutes with Jesus changed everything.
- How do you spend the first five minutes with your spouse or children in the mornings?
- How do you begin your day at work? How do you greet your fellow workers?
- How do you greet your employees (or employer) in the first five minutes on the job?
- What do you say to your children in the first five minutes after you pick them up from school?
The first five minutes you spend with others are very important. Prepare carefully for those moments!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach me the importance of the minutes I spend with people. Help me to be perceptive to the needs and concerns of those around me. Give me the words that bring healing and encouragement to others. Let me be an instrument of blessing to everyone I meet. In Jesus’ name.
Amen