Throughout my life, I have heard people talk about how time flies as you get older. The main reason for this? You become busier. I always took this with a grain of salt. Throughout my years of high school and college I "flew by the seat of my pants," and was always waiting for the next great thing to happen. I didn't stop and appreciate life and really live in the moment. I wanted high school and college to be over as quickly as possible so that I could go on to the next thing. The only thing that made high school bearable was playing football, and the only thing that made college bearable was the Servants of Christ Campus Ministry. I have never really realized how much I miss those days until recently.
Do you all ever have those weeks or days where it seems like the entire world is depending on you? Just last week, I began to think about this. My last week and a half, involved sermon and Bible Class prep, a trip to Nashville for a board meeting, and a trip to the county clerk's office to get the license renewed on a church bus. While these things caused me to become tired, I wouldn't have traded them for anything else in the world. When I did catch myself telling myself how tired I was, I thought about how blessed I am to be able to set a schedule and carry out said schedule throughout the week. I have never really thought about my response to people when they ask how I am. I usually say "I'm busy, but I guess that's a good thing. Better to have something to do than nothing at all." How many people do you know that suffer from a physical ailment that causes them to not be able to go about a daily routine? Friends we take working and running errands for granted. We go through life and do nothing but complain. Why not thank God for the ability to live and breath and wake up each new day? Do we sometimes wish that we could go back to our childhood and not have a care in the world? Yes of course!! But "adulting" involves embracing greater responsibility. It's amazing how much my priorities have changed from high school and college to now. In high school my number one priority was how fast I was going to run the forty yard dash or what I needed to do on a particular play. In college my number one priority was how much I should study for a particular test. At the time those things were tiring, but now they seem so simple (maybe everything but the tests haha!!).
The title of this article is taken from one of the very first sermons I ever preached. It is what I like to call "A Clarence Deloach original." The sermon text is from Malachi 1:6-14, and in the introduction, Brother Deloach states that one of the major themes of the text is that we often grow tired in the work, or while engaged in it, but we can't allow ourselves to grow tired of the work, or become "burned out." The prophet Malachi is telling of the corruptness of the people he is surrounded by. He says in v. 13, "oh what a weariness." The weariness of these people has caused them to cut corners and offer defiled or unclean things to God. Does our weariness today cause us to cut corners? It would be easy for me to prepare a sermon and fill it full of my opinion instead of Scripture. Is that ok? What about a doctor? He or she could decide that they are at whit's end and instead of preforming a life saving operation, they give you some pills and send you on your way. Is this the correct way we should be as Christians? Of course not. Things are going to take a toll on us physically, but instead of complaining (social media makes this ten times easier), be thankful that you can do these things. Young people, never take your high school and college days for granted. Those are some of the most carefree times that you will have. Live in the moment and don't wish your life away. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus tells us "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things."
The #1 thing that will kill the church is burnout. Members, ministers, elders, and deacons labor so much and for so long and sometimes rarely get a thank you. They have families and secular jobs that also take up much of their time. Friends, we are blessed. When we are tempted to complain about our families, jobs, lack of material blessings, I challenge you to stop and count your blessings. You might just be surprised to realize that you are blessed WAY beyond what you deserve.
In Him,
Carver Moore
We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.
Our service times are as follows:
Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am
Sunday morning worship: 11 am
Sunday evening worship: 5 pm
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