Ordinary Time is the time on the Church Calendar between Pentecost and Advent. It seems like a lonnng time – in comparison to Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter – which all follow closely on the heels of each other. Ordinary Time focuses on the public life, teachings, and ministry of Jesus. It is a time dedicated to exploring the Gospels and learning how to apply Christ’s teachings in everyday life. The goal of Ordinary Time is to order our life in alignment to Christ’s. For a disciple of Jesus, ordinary time can be extraordinary time!
I’m reminded of the words in Ephesians 5:15-17 CSB ~ “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise – making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
For myself, I don’t want to waste ordinary time. The way I “make the most of the time” is to grow in my relationship with the Lord. I have been reminded to stop concentrating so much of my time on do-ing and to concentrate more on be-ing in Him. Sometimes I forget to “seek first”; to “pray first”; to “ask first”; to “knock first” – because I’m so intent on “doing first.”
I believe Jesus through His Spirit showed me a new way to look at Luke 11:13 NTFE ~ “So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
In this chapter of Luke, the disciples had asked Jesus to teach them how to pray as they had observed He prayed. Immediately following His model prayer (which we call “The Lord’s Prayer”), Jesus told the disciples a parable about a friend knocking on his friend’s door in the middle of the night to ask for a loaf of bread for unexpected guests who had come.
Luke 11:9-13 NTFE ~ 9 “So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10 You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them! 11 If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
I’ve looked at this parable as a lesson in being persistent in our prayers. But there’s even more…I’ve missed something because I’ve put limitations on what I believe the whole passage is saying. I’ve skipped through to verse 13, thinking that the only thing I can (or should) ask for is the Holy Spirit. (Do you hear the shame in that thought?) But, in going back to Jesus’s example of how to pray, He teaches to pray for physical needs as well as spiritual needs. The parable of a friend asking for bread at midnight illustrates that we should ask, seek, and knock with bold persistence in every area of our lives, just as a child would do with a parent.
Jesus teaches that even imperfect human parents know how to care for their children, and our “MUCH MORE Heavenly Father” will provide the best “much more” gift of all – the Holy Spirit. During this season of Ordinary Time, I will ask and stop feeling shame that I am asking for the wrong thing. I will search, I will ask, I will knock with the unashamed boldness of a child.
I am grateful for all of His answers, but grateful above all for the greatest gift He gives – His presence within me through His Spirit. This turns ordinary time and ordinary days into extraordinary.
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