Why is it that just when we are minding our own business someone else's business interrupts or disturbs our day? Perhaps Murphy is real and is intent on inflicting distraction and destruction to us during our day? Maybe it's because in our comfort zone we do nothing of consequence? Yet another thought is that God sends someone to intersect our lives for good. Part of my problem is separating "my" business from "God's" business. I have no business putting my business before God's business. Sorry, just had to take advantage of the opportunity! However, it's true! I certainly think I have the right and act like I have the right. Then when my business fails, I wonder what went wrong. Maybe if I concentrated on God's business alone I would find things like peace and fulfillment. Wow! There is a concept that we can enjoy! Instead, we continue to focus on our business thinking it's from God. Sometimes it is and most of the time we are following our own inclinations. So much so that we find ourselves saying, "There I was minding my own business..." What would happen if we changed the statement to say, "There I was minding the business God has given me!" For beginners that cuts out my business replacing it with something more valuable than gold.
My business includes all those things I think are important, essential and that I can't live without. Imagine, if you will, that you had no telephone for 48 hours. And you couldn't use anyone else's telephone. Forty eight hours. You who's lives are locked inside that little container (and I) would be incapacitated. Now, let's add that during that 48 hours you don't have any television. None. Forty eight hours. Our after work hours are locked in that little or big box. Finally, let's say you have no computer at all in any form for 48 hours. Your lives and mine are locked in that box as well. The point is our lives are lived inside the box and God wants us to live outside the box. I would challenge anyone reading this to go 48 hours without those three things in their lives. If you are on the computer, phone or TV at work, take 2 days off. If you have family, have them do so as well. There might be some positives that come out of the challenge. Like, you might actually talk instead of ignore or text. You and I live in our business (the boxes) and God's business is relegated to Wednesday evenings (some of us don't even do that!) and Sundays. We spend more time in our boxes and our business than we do in God's business.
Finally, what does it mean to "minding my own business."? "Minding" is an action word meaning to do something intentionally to maintain or increase the business. There seems to be a paradox when we use the phrase "mind your own business" with those around us. Minding my business automatically involved minding the business of those around me. Minding is monitoring, evaluating, encouraging, involving, and other things that the Christian is commanded to do by Jesus. Jesus minded everyone's business all the way to the cross. He still minds our business today and will do so for eternity. If he minds our business, ought we to not do the same? It's a simple fact that mankind is selfish in it's core. Within that selfishness is the "I" that denies Christ and his commands as well as anyone else. Perhaps we ought to avoid "I" for the next 48 hours and see what our lives are like. It would be interesting if "I" was stricken from our vocabulary. Try it. It's not easy. I'm (there it is) fighting to not write "I" even now. Our world has made "I" so prominent it's everyday and hardly noticed. Quite unlike God and his business. There I was minding my own business...when Steve ruined my day with this blog. Oh well, there I was minding God's business.
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