PASTOR’S PEN
As you look around at all that is taking place in the world today, where do you find the strength to get out of bed and face a new day? As a believer, I will be the first to admit there have been some days that I would have rather just stayed in bed and hoped that things might be better tomorrow. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of calling a timeout and hoping for a better tomorrow. Like it or not, we have to deal with each day as it comes. It would be nice to be able to pick and choose what we wanted to deal with, but life doesn’t work like that. If it did, many of us would only deal with those things that make us feel good. We would not invest the time to engage in those things that cause us to question the people and the places that we find ourselves so involved with.
It might be a good thing if we would take the time to really evaluate the things that we spend our time on. Evaluation would allow us to determine if we are making the best use of our time.. How many of us spend time worrying about things that we have no control over? How much time do we spend thinking about what others are thinking or saying about us? How much time do we spend doing things that will be of no benefit to us or those that we love?
With all that is taking place in our world today, it would behoove us to make sure that we are taking full advantage of the time that God has given us each day. I think we are all aware of the fact that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. But we often live under the assumption that what I do not get done today, I will do tomorrow. What happens when tomorrow never comes? What happens when tomorrow begins without you? What happens when all that is left are memories? These are all good questions that should cause us to take a long hard look at the things that we are doing and the things that we are involved in. If we find that these things are just taking up our time and we are not getting a return on our investment, then we might want to invest our time somewhere else.
I would like to challenge you as well as myself that over the next seven days to be aware of how you spend your time. What are the things that consume the most of your time? Are they important? Are there other things that you could be using that time that would be of more benefit? At the end of the day, could you have used your time differently? Let us move forward being good stewards of the time that God has entrusted to our use.
Message from Pastor Blount
To say that things as we have known them have changed is an understatement. One day it was business as usual and the next day we don’t even recognize what is going on. But even in the midst of all the changes that are taking place, we must take time to observe and be aware of what is taking place around us. There is something that we can learn from everything that happens to us. We must take the time to see what the lesson is in each situation.
As we look at the impact of the Coronavirus on individuals as well as society as a whole, there is one lesson that I hope that we do not miss. The one thing that I keep noticing as I look around is we need each other. It has become very evident since we are having to be socially distant, we may have taken many relationships for granted. We are operating in a time when people are not able to visit family members who are in hospitals or nursing homes. It has even come to the point that families are not able to grieve the loss of their loved ones. They are not able to be comforted by friends who have been part of past celebrations and sorrow. Families now have to offer support from a distance.
The church is another place that I think many are coming to the realization that we really need each other. Being unable to gather as a body of believers as we have become accustomed has made us realize our need to be in relationship with one another. Relationships have been a part of our existence from the very beginning. Our lives began by connecting to our parents, siblings and other relatives. Our need for relationships continues to grow as we move through the different stages of life. Read more…
