by Roger Shouse<\/p>\n
We live in busy times. Most of us with children at home find ourselves coming and going all the time. The calendar is full of activities. There is very little downtime or quiet time. Our busy schedules often keep some of us from helping out in the kingdom of God. For instance, the elders may ask a man to consider serving as a deacon. Without even thinking about the great service that he could render, the person declines by saying, “I can’t right now, I’m just too busy.” Or, someone is asked to teach a Bible class. The opportunity is turned down because the person is too busy. Being “too busy” can be an easy excuse for simply not stepping up and doing what we should. Saying “I’m too busy” sounds so much better than saying, “No, I just don’t want to.” Being busy is assumed to be the banner of a successful parent. Being busy means you are not lazy, bored, or dull. We are just busy people.<\/p>\n
But have you ever considered that Moses was busy tending his flock when God called him to service? Gideon was busy threshing wheat when God called him to service. David was busy caring for his father’s sheep when God appointed him king. Nehemiah was busy serving the king when he decided to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Peter and John were busy fishing when Jesus called them to follow Him. We do not find God using the lazy or idle. He goes to those who are already at work and busy. Consider Saul of Tarsus.<\/p>\n
Take note, brethren. It takes time to teach a class or open your home to hospitality or write a card of encouragement or have a home Bible study or serve as an elder or deacon. Those who are busy doing those things have families, jobs, hobbies, and commitments just like everyone else. In fact, you will find those that are very busy in the Kingdom of God have to fight time commitments, juggle their schedules, and sometimes miss activities they like to go to just like everyone else. There are times they feel pulled in more than one direction. But they have found some things that others fail to see. They have found that being busy in the Kingdom of God is worth the sacrifice they must make. They are making a difference and what they are doing is a good work. They have found that making time for the Kingdom teaches their children a valuable lesson. You don’t do everything you want to do first and then if you have any extra time, find something to do for God. You make time for God. You work your schedule to include God. You make time for the work of the Lord. The Lord found time to die on the cross for us. The Lord finds time to bless us and answer our prayers.<\/p>\n
There are many busy folks in the Kingdom. You are making a difference and we are thankful for that. Being busy is not an excuse for not doing what God wants of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Roger Shouse We live in busy times. Most of us with children at home find ourselves coming and going all the time. The calendar is full of activities. There is very little downtime or quiet time. Our busy schedules often keep some of us from helping out in the kingdom of God. For instance,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[608,1470],"class_list":["post-47391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-excuses","tag-productive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51777,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/busy-here-and-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":47391,"position":0},"title":"Busy Here and There","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 20:13-42 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was determined to take Israel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At first he tried to cripple Israel by demanding anything he wanted - I Kings 20:2-6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He threaten to grind the capital of Israel into dust, but he was rebuffed - I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-hands-that-hang-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":47391,"position":1},"title":"The Hands That Hang Down","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton They were beaten down. Their possessions were plundered, and family and friends were speaking evil of them. They were Christians on the verge of quitting. But, Paul wanted to remind them of the superiority and greatness of Christ, so he penned Hebrews with word pictures that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/despondent-106x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2372,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/too-busy-doing-the-wrong-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":47391,"position":2},"title":"Too Busy Doing the Wrong Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some of us are careful shoppers. Especially when it comes to expensive items, such as our cars \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You could buy the cheapest thing on the lot. It will run, but we understand that it won\u2019t last long. It is not worth the investment. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rather, most of us understand that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-we-have-in-common-is-our-love-for-god-is-that-enough-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":47391,"position":3},"title":"All we have in common is our love for God. Is that enough to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello there, I\u2019m in a serious relationship. It took me a while to come to terms with it because we were friends initially. My boyfriend is an awesome guy, he loves and serves God and is caring to people around. He\u2019s passionate about work, his students, family, church, etc..\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19091,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-suggest-i-do-when-my-brothers-are-bugging-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":47391,"position":4},"title":"What do you suggest I do when my brothers are bugging me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you suggest I do when my brothers are bugging me? 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They could find no place to stay due to the influx of visitors coming to register for the census, which was imposed by the Roman government.\u00a0This was the hometown of many people who had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}