The Other 167 Hours

I’ve often that that one of the things I love about preaching is that it is different every day. It’s never boring. I think I’d go crazy working a production line. Putting whatsits on sprockets over and over. My inquisitive mind, my healthy hyperactivity, would hate me for it. This isn’t even selling insurance, or stocks. It’s heady stuff, it’s the stuff of eternal implications. But…

There are the reoccurring events that require a nose to the grindstone sort of assembly line dedication. Bulletin articles, sermon prep, slide decks to prepare, classes to study for, people to pray for, visits to make, Bible studies to conduct, relationships to nurture - the stuff the ministry is made up of. Yes, people see you work a couple of hours a week and may joke about it, but any preacher who works a couple of hours a week will never be effective. The work you do each Sunday is follow-up work on the work you do the other 167 hours a week. If that work is not done with diligence and consistency you won’t survive in this work. That is also the hard work. That is the unappreciated work. That is the misunderstood work. That is the work that you may wish to quit over. 

I want today to encourage you to stay with it. To work the work. To fulfill the work of ministry (see 2 Timothy 4:5). When the going seem tough, remember, nose to the work. Do the work. And, on Sunday, you’ll be glad you did. It will make you a better preacher, a more effective preacher, a more fulfilled preacher, because you filled your week with ministry. Thank you for what you do the over 167 hours. God knows.