It’s been a strange start to 2022, with COVID restrictions now becoming less and less, and life returning to somewhat of normality it’s been good to get back into routine after two years of change and upheaval. A regular routine (of which I’m a big proponent of) is now in swing and the year hums along as it should be.
Where weekends in lockdown were spent with no plans and whittling away the days on hobbies, projects and flipping through paperbacks on the couch, it’s been a weird jolt to now be back properly at youth on Friday nights, planning Saturdays around everyone else’s schedule and regular programs at Church like Sunday services, bible studies, life groups and prayer meetings.
Not to mention the NRL season starting up again and that we can attend games again in person and I’ll be there cheering home my Panthers as we go about defending our premiership.
Don’t get me wrong, like everyone I am glad we are now out of lockdown and can enjoy our usual pursuits but I am wary that we need to be mindful not to forget what we have learnt as we come out the other side of COVID and learn to live with the virus, the main lesson was how we spend our time and what is most important, COVID stripped all that back and forced us to assess where we are in our lives and what we value
I was not a fan of online church; it was the best given the situation we were in and I know for some people it works for them or it may be their only means but more often I would watch the weekly sermon and couldn’t help feel how I would have taken in the message had it been at church, with our congregation and able to properly discuss and catch up with them after the service had ended
To me coming out of lockdown I am now more mindful of where I devote my time and energies, Jesus put it simply in let your “yes be yes, and your no be no” which means you don’t have to say yes to every single function or party, or feel obliged to attend because ‘everyone else is going’.
It’s about focusing on prioritising where you need to best use that time and run it through the lens of the gospel, now more than ever we need to be using this wisely, from COVID still being ever present in our lives, to natural disasters and the situation in Europe we need not be focused on trivial matters but to keep our eyes fixed on Christ and the work we still have to keep on and press on towards the prize that awaits.
Yes let’s enjoy our freedoms, but not at the expense of losing sight on what is really important
Christopher Archibald lives in Sydney and is a Youth Leader at New Life Christian Church in Blacktown. A voracious reader, he ploughs through many books in a calendar year, with a bookcase that is constantly being rearranged to accommodate new additions.Christopher Archibald's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/christopher-archibald.html