To prepare for weekly sermon, I tend to spend lots of time. I read many reference materials to form the body part of sermon. Also, it takes a long time to write it out. This habit of mine used be no problem. However, when there is a special activity such as conference or seminar, I am under stress because of shortage of time. For example, during the pastor’s seminar, I have almost no time from Tuesday evening. Those weeks, we normally have Living Life bible study on Monday evening and I have to prepare for the seminar during the day time. This leaves no chance to work on the sermon.
When I became the senior pastor, however, I realized that it is not really the case. Since during the seminar period, there is no morning prayer so if I come to church at 6 in the morning, I have 2 hours until 8 am. When I use these 2 hours for 4 days, the sermon is almost ready. I realized that I could use this time much more efficiently and could prepare a sermon in a shorter amount of time when I use this uninterrupted morning hours. Even though I know that this precious morning hour is the best time for me to prepare the sermon, I use this time for Morning Prayer.
When I realized ‘I am using the most efficient time for the least productive use.’ I was tempted to work during the morning hour and switch the praying time to the least efficient time such as afternoon hours. Then, it dawned on me that is why prayer is our sacrifice. In other words, Morning Prayer is a holy waste of time where we spent the most efficient time for the least productive purpose. It is the holy waste of time for God.
Have you ever had the feeling that you wasted your time after attending Sunday worship? Do you feel that way when the presentation was mediocre and the sermon was not very helpful to you? Just think about it. Sunday worship itself is a waste of time. For some, Sunday is the only day of rest when you can sleep late or spend time with family. You are wasting your valuable time in church, when you could have spent it with family.
However, if you know who God is, it is no longer a simple waste of time, but becomes a holy waste of time which you willingly offer to God. I think it is quite sad if you calculate which service you need to attend to achieve the maximum efficiency for the day. You can give your best time willingly because you know that He is so precious to you that you would not spare anything for Him. You know He gave up the glory in Heaven to save you. With that understanding, you want to worship Him and offer Him your very best time with gladness. This is the holy waste of time.
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