CrossTies Devotional Article For February 12, 2006

Nine Years Out Of Your Life
By Bill Denton

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17, NASB95).

     Rafael Antonio Lozano is a man with a mission, albeit a strange one. The 33-year-old computer programmer from Plano, Texas, is on a quest to visit every company-owned Starbucks on the planet.
     Lozano, who calls himself Winter, began his mission in 1997, when there were 1,304 such stores worldwide. Today, there are over 6,000 in 37 countries. As of October 31st, 2005, Winter had visited 4,918 Starbucks in North America, in addition to 213 others around the globe.
     Despite his impressive pace, Winter is realistic about the nature of his quest, saying, "As long as they keep building Starbucks, I'll never be finished." He is also realistic about the importance of his mission. "Every time I reach a Starbucks, I feel like I've accomplished something," he said, "when actually I've accomplished nothing."
Jayne Clark, "Sooner or Latte, He'll Get There," USAToday.com (10-13-05)

Now there’s a busy guy, though it seems that neither he nor I would describe his busyness as accomplishing anything particularly worthwhile.  Maybe he should have talked to the Starbucks people and got them to pay for all his trips and coffee and use him to advertise their coffee shops.  As it stands, I can’t see where he’s doing anything worthwhile.

Lest we get on this fellow’s case too harshly, perhaps it would behoove us to consider whether we are accomplishing anything better.  Silly thought, you say?  Well, let’s think about it.

Take TV time, just as an example.  According to the A.C. Nielson Co., the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV daily.  That works out to more than 52 days of non-stop TV watching each year -- almost two months!  By the age of 65, that average American will have spent nearly 9 years watching TV.  What could you do with 9 years?  Learn several new skills?  Travel to distant places?  Get 2 or 3 college degrees?  Learn to speak a second language?  Write a book?  Maybe none of that interests you, but surely there is something you’d like to do that having 9 years available would give you a big start toward doing it.

What’s really amazing are the number of people who don’t seem to think they have time for spiritual activities.  We’re too busy to attend Bible classes.  Worship, with the possible exception of Sunday mornings, often interferes with TV time (remember I’m one of the people who grew up having to decide between Walt Disney’s Sunday night TV program and church!).  TV isn’t our only problem, just one - but it is a big one.

Next time you are tempted to claim you don’t have enough time to do something, figure out if you’re an average American.  If so, you’ve got more available time than you think.

© Copyright  2006, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.   http://www.crossties.org
 
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