God has been teaching me a lot over the past several weeks. Well, He is always teaching – I just happened to be paying attention these past few weeks. Thank God that He never gives up on me. But I digress….

I am currently working through the book “Business by the Book – The Complete Guide to Biblical Principles for Business Men and Women” (authored by Larry Burkett).

I was recently convicted by a portion of his writing. This particular section is based on Psalm 127:2:

It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Based on this scripture, Burkett says:

It is true that a forty-hour work week will rarely, if ever, build a successful business. But a one-hundred-hour work week reflects a gross imbalance of priorities, not dedication to being a good leader! I can state without hesitation that no one can maintain the correct balance between work, family, and God if he or she is working more than sixty hours per week. There may be occasional periods when an excess is necessary and unavoidable, but even then the relationships suffer.

… I made a commitment to never again spend endless hours pursuing success. I limited myself to a forty-eight hour work week maximum, and have maintained that schedule ever since. I find that I accomplish more and use my time better than when I worked twice as many hours. I also won’t have to look back at sixty-five or seventy years of age and say, “I wish I had done that twenty years ago.”

So, what does this have to do with me? And what does this have to do with openworship?

Well, I own a small business. Or, as I like to tell others, I am steward of an opportunity God has entrusted me with. Over the past several years, I have been the sole person in this company. If I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done. In October, I was blessed with the opportunity to grow Bezaleel by hiring its first employee. You would normally think that I would slow down, take it easy, take a breather. Nope. I trudged on forward carrying much of the burden (because that is how I always did it) and putting in the same hours. “Hmm, now I can take on even more!” – I decided.

Well, now I also have a wonderful lady in my life. Yet another blessing from our Lord. With this relationship, I have been stretched in ways I haven’t experienced before. The life of a single man becomes comfortable and familiar after 28 years.

As I continued putting in the hours, working hard, etc – I began to realize I was missing out. And because I was missing out, so were others. God has more in store for me than just to see Bezaleel become a success. He wants to see Bezaleel make a change and difference in others’ lives. But, that change has to be a part of my life first.

While reading this portion of Burkett’s book, I began to realize all the fellowship I was missing out on because Saturdays were considered my own personal work day. Because, I worked long hours each weekday and thus missed out on ministry opportunities at church during the week. My Sundays were filled with rushing to church, doing my thing, rushing home to see if I could squeeze in some more work here or there, then rushing back to church for our evening services. I was doing a whole lot of “DOING”. However, I wasn’t doing much “BEING”.

Convicted by the words of Burkett, I determined last week to end each work day at 5:00PM or as close as possible. Then, I would have something planned to do during that time off work (read a book, work out, spend time with the lady friend/ parents/ others, join a ministry, etc). There has to be something for that time to be occupied with, or else I will be too drawn to picking up the macbook and going right back to work.

I also determined that Sunday is the Lord’s day. ALL of it. The last two Sundays were great in that regard. My girlfriend and I joined a Sunday School class with our pastor and his wife. I figure this is about as high a level of accountability as I could find on such a day. I mean, you just don’t lie or duck out on a class with the preacher man. At the moment, my lady and I are the only two in this class. Thus, the opportunity for growth during this time is ginormous! A whole hour with the man of God, one-on-one to teach and equip you.

For our worship service time, after much prayer, I decided that I would no longer sit up in the A/V booth for quite a while. We have several others up there that are now competent in running that ministry. It is time for the lady and I to sit amongst the rest of the congregation and experience being a part of the service once again. It is way too easy to sit in the A/V booth week in and week out, with all the distractions that that ministry brings and loose focus of the real reason you are there – to worship the Lord.

After service, we have been going over to the home of fellow church members. During this time we have been getting our grub on with all the awesome food and fellowshipping with some amazing people.

So, again, how does this tie into openworship….

Well, Raoul and I once were chatting and he shared that he works on openlp.org and other such things on Sunday. (Raoul, if I get this wrong, just softly kick me… but it makes a great point/idea either way.) So, I am determining that at the least, I will attempt to put in time on openworship during my Sunday afternoons. Although I feel a bit limited with all that I can do in my own power with this project, I will set out to do as much as possible. Besides, with the Lord, all things are possible.

I found it kinda funny that Raoul gave me a kick start via the openworship mailing list this weekend. Isn’t it wild how God just hits you from all sorts of directions to get your attention. Just as I was dealing with these thoughts, up pops a post from a wonderful man of God on the other side of the world (or close). God is amazing!

Well, I hope in some way this post has ministered to you all. At the very least, this post has allowed me to convey thoughts from inside my head to text.

Dave Ramsey, a Christian financial guy (the modern day Larry Burkett), has often asked, “What could the children of God do for the Kingdom of God if they were debt free?”

The thoughts generated by Burkett’s book lead me to ponder, “What could the children of God do for the Kingdom of God if they could free themselves from the bondage of poor time management and things that are a waste of time?”

Well, if the Lord is willing, I hope to find out. Will you join me?

Thanks for hearing me out.

Glad the tomb is empty,
Kevin L.