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PROGRAM D-7448

Someone has said, “There is always time to do God’s will.” Certainly that has to be true.  What God has given us to do we will have time to do, provided we know how to manage our time well and we are disciplined in our work habits.  I’m talking about our busy lives, and asking questions to help us determine how God feels about our busyness.

And here’s the next question I urge you to ask yourself: 

Do I set appropriate boundaries on my busyness?

Did you ever realize that Jesus knew how to say, “That’s not my job”? In Luke 12 we read where a man asked Jesus to be a judge, and Jesus said, in effect, “That’s not my job.”  I’m sure this man figured Jesus was the right person to settle this argument between him and his brother.  But Jesus told him that he was not called, nor did he intend to become an earthly judge in human affairs. He was not unkind about it, but he certainly was direct.

In Mark 1:35-38 we see another occasion where Jesus disappointed some people. The whole town had gathered to hear Jesus and his disciples were most anxious for him to come and please this crowd. But Jesus made a decision to go elsewhere, because he said that he must “go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” No doubt he disappointed his disciples and the crowd that had gathered, but Jesus stayed focused on his mission and he knew how to set boundaries and refused to try to please everyone.

I used to think that if I was everything I should be, everybody would be happy with me and I’d be able to please everyone. But when I realized that Jesus set boundaries and actually said, “That’s not my job” when necessary, it freed me to know that I too could set boundaries.  Just because someone asks you to do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it.

Do you find it difficult to say “no”? That’s could be because your worth as a person is too much based on what others think of you.  When you are dependent on the opinions and affirmation of other people in order to feel good about yourself and what you’re doing, then you are at their mercy.  You’re going to be jumping through their hoops, trying to be a superwoman or man, in order to gain their approval and therefore feel you’re okay.

If you haven’t learned how to set biblical boundaries in your life, I urge you to take this matter under consideration. There are some good Christian books on the topic, and it will be well worth your time to find out when and how you should be setting boundaries on the busyness of your life.