I'm just so busy...
Maybe this line will sound familiar: "summertime's just so busy..." Have you ever noticed that we have a tendency to regurgitate different versions of the same excuse? Busy summer excuses turn into, "now that fall's here we're just busy trying to get back into a routine." Or, "let's catch up after the holidays."As reality would have it, we're all allotted approximately 24 hours in a day and those 24 hours are going to get filled up with something. It's not that summer is busy, life is busy. We are all forced to choose some things and reject others. When we say "yes" to one thing, we're saying "no" to something else. The situation is neither good nor bad, it just is.
I'm a pastor and last Sunday I skipped church to run a marathon. I'm a living example of the fact that we all make time for the things that are important to us. I doesn't hurt my feelings in the slightest when people say "no" to being at church Sunday morning so they can say "yes" to something that's important to them. What saddens me is when they choose trinkets, entertainment and even lethargy over Jesus and the family that He's established for them to enjoy. One Sunday turns into 4 and before you know it, skipping out on time with our church family is the new norm.
My advice: Take the time to enjoy summer. Be with people you love and do things that rejuvenate you. In the middle of it, watch out for the pitfall of loosing your connection to your Christian community. Don't exchange friendship for a hotdog and a lawn chair. Biblically speaking, every good thing exists for one purpose; to bring glory to Christ. Being engaged in His family (the church) does that very thing.
"living in community is hard on our schedules. Living in isolation is hard on our souls." -Brad House
