The end of regulation!

Do you turn off the tv after nine innings regardless of whether the game is over or not? Do you stop watching a football game at the end of regulation? Why is it we make sure our pastors keep a schedule and don't run over on time? Is a good sermon less important than an extra inning baseball game, or a double overtime football game?

Have you noticed how churches are racing through sermons and making sure they keep a tight schedule. Don't misunderstand me, it is good to keep a schedule and try to keep things to the point, but should our church life be so compartmentalized?
If the pastor is on fire, should he stop after forty five minutes? What if the real meat of the message were to happen at forty seven minutes, and God's real message never got heard because we reached the end of regulation?

We rush through life in everything we do, even our time with God. I have found myself rushing through my time with God, instead of giving him the best time. I caught myself this morning jumping the gun to go up to play music for communion, and in a way rushing our pastor through his final points in his sermon.

If we have time for entertainment can't we give the same reverence to our time with God?

This week go tell your pastor it's ok if you run over, Sunday is the Lord's day and I can think of nothing more important than hearing what He has to speak through you.

Psalms 39: 4-7

⁴ “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
⁵ Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
⁶ Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.

⁷ “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.