Yes, even in ministry we can get too busy with the tasks that surround us. As I woke up this morning, these were some of the tasks that I needed to tackle:

  • Check on current health insurance rates,
  • Check with Janet on some payroll stuff,
  • Check with Ben on some monitors for FLC,
  • Follow up with vendor on sound panels for Worship Center,
  • Check with John on results of Chapel sound tests last night,
  • Make decision on health insurance,
  • Finish up budget presentation,
  • Approve this week’s checks,
  • Review my responsibilities in One Initiative,
  • Begin close out of August financial period,
  • Review year end spending needs,
  • Talk to Travis about One Initiative,
  • Talk to Jeff about Elders and Deacons,
  • Talk to Jamie about PLACE,
  • Talk to Cynthia about a Shelby report,
  • Talk to Janet about a couple of financial matters,
  • etc…

…and the list goes on and on. This is how I wake up each morning…with a long list of “to do’s”. I get some accomplished in the course of the day, some are pushed out till tomorrow and others are added to the list. It is more or less a continuous list.

However, today, instead of going to the office…

  • I had breakfast with an old friend and reconnected with him Checked on him to see how he was doing.
  • I went down to the hospital to spend some time with Rachel who was waiting during her husband’s surgery.
  • I went out to Piedmont Agency on Aging and shared a message with some dear friends on…loving God and loving people.
  • I took my friend David down to his house in South Greenwood to get his Bible.

Now it’s just past lunch time…how will I spend the rest of the day?

Tasks must be done…things must be placed in order…Paul told Titus that very thing. However, we can never loose sight of letting the busyness of life get in the way of loving God and loving people.

In Matthew 22, Jesus replied to the lawyer who was questioning Him on the greatest commandment…

Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matt 22:37-39 (NKJV)

Hopefully, today…I can continue to be a little less busy with my task list.