God -- Not Church

We are so busy in our lives. Work, school, activities, family, friends, me-time. Everything we do can end-up crowding our lives and become an entity of it's own. Welcome to the modern version of "THE BLOB"!!!

With all that we do how can we ever manage to keep things in order, especially our time with God? I'm sure you've heard me say this before -- prioritize! What is the most important thing to you? Let's first make a list of what we've got on our plates... Go on! Get that sheet of paper and start writing what ever comes to your mind:


Going to the movies with my friends.
Driving the kids to sports.
Cooking dinner for the family.
Going to work.
Going to Church.
Cleaning house.
Praying.
Local Bible study.
Reading.
Devotional.
Painting.
Gardening.
Doing Homework.

With that now on the page, put things in the order of most important to least important. Here's is the rule:

#1 God
#2 Spouse
#3 Children
#4 Everything Else

Notice it does NOT say Church! GOD not Church is our number one priority. Immediately after that is family. Now, I know this may come as a shock to you, but if going to Church three days a week and getting involved in all the functions destroys your family's peace of mind (and your own) -- guess what? -- you've got to cut back. Your obligation is to God Himself, not the Church.

Please don't misunderstand me. I think it's VERY good to be involved in Church, have Bible studies, go to small groups, and so on. But if you find your family breaking down under the stress of so many obligations IT'S NOT WORTH IT! If I know my family's had a absolutely exhausting week, I have no problem NOT going to Church that Sunday. We'll take our DAY OF REST and -- you got it! -- rest. We'll do a simple family devotion instead or watch a video of one of our favorite Bible teachers.

I would encourage to you make an effort to be involved in Church, but not at the cost of your family or sanity. Some of the best things that ever happened to me happened in a Small Group or Youth Group. When we're fighting the world everyday at work or at school, we need a Godly recharge at Church. And we need it often! Godly fellowship is something you can only get at Church, but is it necessary to do EVERYTHING that happens at Church to get that? Answer: No.

A story of that from my family...

My grandparents came from a Catholic upbringing. But when they left the Catholic church, my Grandmother became HYPER involved in her new faith and church. Anything and everything that went on in the Church she was in up to her elbows. However, in order to do this, she had to sacrifice her taking care of her children and household. What happened because of that? Everything fell apart, not to mention her children, trying to pickup the slack, became thoroughly exhausted and bitter. After living like this for sometime, my Grandma finally realized her first obligation was to her family -- not the Church. She stopped getting so involved at Church and started making sure her family was fully taken care of by her. What then happened? Her family was happy, healthy and renewed because she took care of her priorities.

God is something to be enjoyed -- not dreaded. When getting involved in Church make sure you aren't sacrificing your priories.