00:30Yo. What's going on? Sitting here. It's my last day in Joburg. Before we head out. Just kind of just sitting here having a moment just to kind of reflect and contemplate on a week on my time here. And it's just really been like pressing on my heart this idea of just being present where you are. No matter where you are to just be present and steward that time. Well, I was sitting here just kind of reflecting with God and just just one just thankful for this time that I've had. But then thinking to myself, like, have I squeezed the juice out of every opportunity? You know, and I bet, you know, there's no regret or anything like that. But it's just one of those things that I'm like, you know, I want to just continue to be even more proactive in this thought, in this, in this thinking, you know, being like steward in every opportunity. And honestly, I would say in all humility, I would say, yeah, I think I could answer yes to that question, or at least, you know, to what I was aware of, you know, I was that was my intention. But it was just as I was thinking about it, a passage came to mind, a few passages came to mind. And one is in Ephesians, verse or chapter five, 15 and 16. It says, Be careful, be very careful, then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. And this is just one of those reminders for us to just be intentional, to be aware and to, and to not waste the moment in front of you. Whatever that is, man, like even in your in your current situation, where you are now to, to not simply endure a season, but embrace each season that we're in, man, and each opportunity that's in front of us, if we, what if what would happen if we shifted our perspective to like, God, how to how, where are you at in this? How do I steward this in a way that's pleasing to you? You know, how do I be faithful in this situation? And that doesn't matter what it is, whether it's a, maybe a celly that you may have, right? Like that person may not be your celly forever. Lord, how do I, how do I steward this relationship? Well, how, what do I impart? What do I glean from this situation here? You know, an opportunity to, to, you know, when you're engaging with a CEO or something like, well, how do I, how do I reflect you in a new way to someone, you know, to shift their mindset of maybe how they view people or, you know, other residents or whatever the case may be. Like, I don't want to sit up here and try to pinpoint that, that for you, man. But I think it's just one of those things that like, it's worth sitting with God to process and allowing him to kind of speak to your heart and reveal maybe some things that, um, that he may say, you know,
03:48in that moment, um, another passage that came to mind was in Psalm 90, um, verse 12 says, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Um, I think just awareness of time just leads to intentional living, right? Like if, if we're, if we don't just passively pass through life, but we're actually, um, made aware and choosing to be aware of just our day to day and, and, and the fact that like, Hey, this isn't forever. This situation may not be forever. This, you know, the proximity I have with this individual, this may not be forever. And even if it is like, what's the point of a forever of nothingness, right? Like it's just that, that, that call and that, um, it's our responsibility to steward that moment, right? God sees that as us being faithful. Stewarding your life isn't just about chasing the big moments, right? It's about being fully present in the ones right in front of you. And as I'm wrapping up here, um, I'm even taking this time now to just simply be fully present, you know, um, to, to just sit with God right now. and just hear nature, be amongst nature. I recall walking the track when I was locked up and every now and then I would just take my headphones out, especially like in the morning when it's quiet. And I would just like try to fine tune my ear to every sound that I could hear, right? Whether it was water running, whether it was wind blowing, whether it was birds chirping, whether it was crickets, whatever they do, you know, whatever it is, like just trying to fine tune my ear to how many sounds I can just be made aware of in a moment. And I don't know, maybe that sounds weird to you, but whatever it is, man, like whatever it is for you to just practice being present, I think that's just one of those disciplines that really, it grows us in contentment and a sense of peace and strengthens our muscles to be intentional, because that's something
06:01that you need, you know, whether you're locked up or you're out here, man, just steward in these moments where it is an act of faith, it is an act of faithfulness and God sees that and he's pleased with that. So in the simple things, in the simple things, man, I just wanna encourage you today to be fully present, to be fully present and whatever that looks like for you. And if you don't, like if you don't really have any context or you don't really, you can't, like you're not drawing up a concept of what that may be, then that's cool. Take that to God in your prayer time, Lord, okay, what is this being present thing fully like about? Like, am I missing something in not being present? Is there a fruit in that? Is there something you would wanna communicate to me regarding this matter? Is this even for me? Is this something that I should show somebody else, right? Maybe I am fully present or I do practice presence, but now that I'm hearing this or whatever, like seeing it in this way, maybe this is something that I got a partner of mine that I wanna show them or whatever the case, I don't know. But again, anything that I give you, it's always take to the feet of Jesus, continue the conversation and see what he has to say about. That's probably gonna be the last one for this week. So I hope these bless y'all, man, and loving the comments. Thank you for the replies and the letters and everything. It's really encouraging as well.